UC-NRLF 


NOTED  MOTHER  AND 
DAUGHTER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


AGNES  NININGER  KEMP 


A 

NOTED  MOTHER  AND 
DAUGHTER 

BY 

NELLIE  BLESSING[EYSTER 

AUTHOR  OF 

A  CHINESE  QUAKER 

ETC. 


PAUL  ELDER  AND  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS -SAN  FRANCISCO 


A  * 

NOTED  MOTHER  AND 
DAUGHTER 


TO  HAVE  known  the  father  of  Agnes  Nininger  was 
to  know  that  the  daughter  who  so  much  resembled 
him,  would,  through  the  unerring  laws  of  heredity, 
make  and  fill  a  place  during  the  progress  of  the 
nineteenth  century  peculiarly  her  own. 

Anthony  Nininger  was  a  native  of  Alsatia,  France.  He 
emigrated  to  America  early  in  1816  and  marrying  Miss  Catherine 
May,  settled  in  Harrisburg,  Dauphin  County,  Pennsylvania, 
where,  after  a  long,  useful  and  singularly  prosperous  life  he 
died  in  1866. 

He  was  the  father  of  nine  children,  all  of  whom  died  in  early 
childhood  except  John,  who  became  brother-in-law  of  Alexander 
Ramsey,  Governor  of  Minnesota,  and  afterward  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  War  Department — and  Agnes,  "the  apple  of  her 
father's  eye." 

The  gentle  mother  dying  when  Agnes  was  yet  an  infant, 
the  tie  between  her  father  and  herself  became  intensified. 

Possessing  much  of  his  genial,  sunny  nature,  vivid  imagi- 
nation and  strength  of  will,  whether  at  home  or  at  his  place  of 
business,  the  presence  of  the  blue-eyed,  rosy-cheeked  girl  prattler 
seemed  indispensable  to  the  father's  success  and  happiness. 
Thus,  the  peculiar  business  qualifications,  executive  ability 
and  genius  for  orderliness  and  organization  which  have  been 
such  prominent  factors  in  the  life-work  of  his  accomplished 
daughter,  were  being  developed,  unknown  to  herself,  at  an  age 
when  most  girls  are  in  the  nursery  playing  with  dolls. 

She  was  born  a  linguist,  the  French  and  German  tongues 
seeming  as  native  to  her  as  her  own,  and  there  are  those  in 
Harrisburg  today,  who,  while  speaking  of  their  distinguished 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

townswoman  with  pardonable  pride,  will  also  record  with  tender 
satisfaction  her  unusual  and  bold  traits  of  benevolence,  inde- 
pendence of  thought,  energy  and  the  courage  of  her  conviction 
which  characterized  her  and  were  evinced  at  such  an  early  age. 

Born  November  4,  1823,  while  but  a  mere  girl  in  years  she 
became  the  beloved  wife  of  her  fellow  townsman,  Colonel  William 
Saunders,  and  a  few  years  after,  thanks  to  a  fortuitous  seeming 
failure  in  health,  was  ordered  by  her  physician  to  a  celebrated 
water-cure  sanitarium  in  New  York.  It  was  during  this  first 
flight  from  the  home  nest,  while  yet  ignorant  of  her  own  powers, 
that  her  ardent,  aspiring  soul  was  brought  into  intimate  associ- 
ation with  that  matchless  galaxy  of  "immortals,"  the  grand  men 
and  women  whose  lives  have  been  sublime,  viz. :  Lucretia  Mott, 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Abbey  Kelly 
Foster,  Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody,  Wendell  Phillips  and  others 
of  like  spirit  and  undying  fame.  Their  recognition  of  the 
inherent  possibilities  for  great  good  in  this  "child  of  nature" 
was  almost  immediate  and  its  result  creditable  in  the  highest 
degree  to  their  spiritual  insight. 

At  a  time,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  to  be 
recognized  as  an  anti-slavery  man  or  woman  was  to  subject 
one's  self  to  persecution  and  often  to  physical  danger,  and  when 
to  declare  one's  self  in  sympathy  with  equal  civic  and  political 
rights  for  women  was  to  become  socially  ostracized,  it  required 
no  small  amount  of  moral  bravery  in  the  young  matron,  upon 
her  return  home,  to  prove  her  "faith  by  her  works."  But  she 
was  equal  to  the  demand  of  the  hour.  Firing  a  few  souls  with 
her  own  lofty  zeal  and  laughing  at  all  obstacles,  she  brought 
successively  to  Harrisburg  such  sturdy  pioneers  of  our  latter- 
day  glory  as  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Lucy  Stone  Blackwell,  the 
saintly  Lucretia  Mott,  Edward  Everett  and  men  and  women 
of  their  ilk,  and  with  her  pen,  purse  and  push  helped  them 
to  sow  the  seed  of  a  higher  patriotism  and  more  liberal  and 
lofty  thought  in  the  then  conservative  capital  of  great  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The  first  to  accept  her  invitation  was  Lucy  Stone.  Doubts 
of  the  propriety  of  Mrs.  Saunders  thrusting  such  an  obnoxious 

2 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

personage  before  the  vision  of  the  good  people  of  Harrisburg 
were  freely  expressed.  A  woman  to  lecture !  What  an  unheard  of 
innovation!  Not  a  few  expressed  their  opinion  that  the  wife 
of  Colonel  Saunders  had  gone  "clear  daft"  since  her  return 
from  Boston.  He  should  restrain  her  wild  freaks.  When  the 
actual  announcement  of  the  date  and  place  of  the  lecture  was 
made  it  produced  as  much  of  a  furore  in  some  social  and  political 
circles  as  would,  today,  an  invasion  by  the  Japanese  or  a  visit 
from  the  Empress  of  China  and  her  court.  The  lecturer  was 
the  champion  of  that  dreadful  infringement  upon  the  sanctity 
of  the  home  and  the  morality  of  society  expressed  in  the  term 
"Women's  Rights."  Her  expectant  hostess  was  importuned 
to  know  the  truth  of  various  statements  concerning  her,  one 
being  that  she  was  six  feet  tall  in  her  stocking  feet,  wore  high- 
topped  boots  and  rode  upon  the  platform  of  the  cars  all  the  way 
from  Massachusetts  the  better  to  see  and  to  be  seen — to  all 
of  which  Mrs.  Saunders  would  imperturbably  reply  with  a 
charming  smile,  "Wait  and  see."  Lucy  Stone  came  quietly 
and  unobserved,  appearing  upon  the  platform  at  the  appointed 
hour,  modestly  attired  in  a  dress  of  plain  black  silk  with  a  tiny 
lace  ruffle  around  her  white  throat  and  her  shapely  head  sur- 
mounted by  a  coronal  of  her  own  abundant,  soft  and  sunny 
brown  hair.  Her  arms  were  encased  in  the  flowing  sleeves  of 
that  period,  lined  with  white  silk,  and  her  small  feet  wore  the 
daintiest  of  slippers. 

The  house  was  crowded,  and  she  stood  (having  been  intro- 
duced by  Mrs.  Saunders)  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes.  A  lovelier 
picture  of  artless,  earnest,  simple  womanliness  could  not  have 
been  imagined.  Her  plea  was  for  a  larger  opportunity  for 
women  to  share  in  the  work  of  the  world  without  being  con- 
sidered as  having  unsexed  themselves  or  in  any  degree  lost 
their  femininity.  Her  arguments  in  its  favor  were  so  unex- 
pectedly womanly  and  tender  that  her  audience  sat  spellbound. 
Suddenly  an  egg  was  hurled  at  her  through  an  open  window 
in  the  rear  of  the  hall  and  broke  upon  her  shoulder.  Calmly 
wiping  off  the  offensive  matter  with  her  handkerchief,  she 
observed,  "If  I  could  as  easily  erase  from  the  memory  of  the  one 

3 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

who  has  tried  to  insult  me  the  folly  of  his  act  I  would  be  glad  of 
the  opportunity." 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  crowds  stepped  forward  to  clasp 
her  hand  and  congratulate  Mrs.  Saunders  upon  the  success  of 
her  scheme.  She  was  entirely  vindicated. 

In  appearance  at  the  time,  Mrs.  Saunders  was  a  perfect 
Hebe.  Her  health  having  been  entirely  restored  and  her  buoy- 
ancy of  temperament  always  at  a  high  altitude,  she  was  literally 
"the  observed  of  observers"  whenever  she  appeared  in  public, 
and  "the  bright  particular  star"  in  her  home  and  social  circle. 

The  poetry  of  her  nature  was  exhibited  in  the  extreme  beauty 
and  daintiness  of  her  apparel,  and  her  love  of  order  evinced  the 
harmony  of  her  thought.  She  had  not  an  idle  minute.  Self- 
culture  became  with  her  a  passion.  Hours  of  each  day  were 
faithfully  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  music,  for  which,  like 
that  of  learning  foreign  languages,  she  had  great  aptitude,  and 
during  the  intervals  studying  works  on  mental  and  moral 
philosophy.  She  was  considered,  by  far,  the  most  advanced 
woman  of  her  time  in  her  native  city,  and  while  an  object  of 
envy  by  a  few  outside  her  own  peculiar  circle,  none  could 
restrain  their  admiration  for  the  boundlessness  of  her  desire 
to  do  good  and  to  be  beloved  by  all. 

After  a  few  years  of  happy  married  life  her  husband  fell  a 
victim  to  tuberculosis  and  passed  into  the  great  unknown. 
This  was  her  first  heart-breaking  sorrow.  When  she  emerged 
from  it,  a  widow,  and  with  abundant  means  at  her  disposal, 
the  question  soon  occurred  to  her,  "How  can  I  the  best  benefit 
my  own  sex?"  Exceedingly  simple  in  her  tastes  and  living 
close  to  Nature  in  her  habits  of  life  she  realized  that  ignorance 
of  the  laws  of  hygiene  lay  at  the  root  of  most  of  the  diseases 
peculiar  to  women.  She  would  be  their  teacher  and  deliverer. 
Full  of  enthusiasm  she  soon  put  her  determination  into  practice 
by  going  to  Philadelphia  and  entering  the  Women's  Medical 
College.  She  graduated  in  1879,  being  the  first  woman  in 
Dauphin  County,  Pennsylvania,  to  be  received  into  its  medical 
society.  She  thus  blazed  a  pathway  for  the  many  who  have 
succeeded  her.  Letters  of  congratulation  poured  upon  her, 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

of  which  one  is  quoted  as  being  characteristic.    The  writer 
was  a  distinguished  woman  professor  in  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

1400  N.  TWENTY-THIRD  STREET. 

June  7,  1880. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND:  I  was  rejoiced  to  read  in  the  Public  Ledger  of  last 
Saturday  morning  (June  5th)  an  extract  from  the  Harrisburg  Patriot 
stating  that  at  the  last  regular  meeting  of  the  Dauphin  County  Medical 
Society  you  were  admitted  a  member  of  its  body. 

I  hasten  to  offer  my  congratulations  on  this  auspicious  event  and 
to  express  the  hope  that  you  will  prove  a  valuable  member.  Your 
cheery  and  friendly  letter  of  November  24th  has  afforded  me  much 
pleasure  and  should  have  been  answered  earlier  but  for  many  burdening 
cares.  I  am  glad  you  are  in  Harrisburg  and  trust  you  may  long  be 
spared  to  do  a  good  work  there.  Let  me  hear  of  your  successes  from 
time  to  tune  and  come  to  see  us  when  you  can.  You  are  one  in  whose 
career  we  are  greatly  interested.  Believe  me,  your  sincere  friend, 

L.  BODLEY. 

A  characteristic  incident  demonstrating  her  democratic 
principles  and  love  of  truth  and  simplicity  is  told  of  her  as 
having  occurred  in  the  cars  while  en  route  for  her  home  the  day 
succeeding  her  graduation. 

The  car  was  chiefly  occupied  by  men,  but  two  aristocratic 
and  elegantly  attired  ladies  were  sitting  directly  behind  her  while 
she  was  absorbed  in  a  book  which  she  was  reading.  All  being 
quiet  the  conversation  between  the  two  ladies  was  overheard 
easily.  They  were  boasting  of  their  foreign  lineage  and  the  signs 
of  ancient  heraldry,  as  proofs  of  it,  to  which  each  was  entitled. 
"I  carry  my  grandfather's  coat-of-arms  stamped  upon  my 
handkerchiefs,"  said  one.  "And  I  have  mine  engraved  upon 
my  pocket  book,"  responded  the  other.  Then,  in  a  rather  loud 
roice  she  said,  "Doctor!  Excuse  the  interruption,  but  where 
do  you  place  your  coat-of-arms  ?" 

Thus  publicly  appealed  to,  the  newly  made  doctor  calmly 
arose,  and  lifting  the  lid  of  her  modest  lunch-basket  beside  her, 
took  from  it  a  small  link  of  Bologna  sausage,  which  holding 
aloft,  she  said,  "I  carry  it  with  me  when  traveling;  my  father 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

dealt  in  cattle."  The  car  was  in  a  roar  of  laughter,  the  men 
loudly  applauding  her. 

Her  second  marriage,  to  Joseph  Kemp,  Esq.,  of  Hollidays- 
burg,  Pa.,  a  man  of  unusual  breadth  of  intellect  and  ripe  culture 
and  a  lawyer  by  profession,  took  place  in  1857,  and  the  birth 
of  three  children,  two  of  whom  were  girls  and  one  a  boy,  seemed 
to  ripen  into  quick  maturity  a  degree  of  religious  fervor  and 
high  order  of  philanthropy  which  to  those  phlegmatic  souls  who 
could  not  comprehend  Agnes  Nininger-Kemp's  burning  enthusi- 
asm to  lift  her  fellows  into  the  higher  understanding  of  God's 
plans  for  His  children,  seemed  fanaticism. 

Questions  which  a  third  of  a  century  ago  were  rarely  dis- 
cussed in  polite  society,  nor  indeed  scarcely  thought  of  by  the 
masses,  such  as  the  formation  of  Magdalene  Asylums;  crusades 
against  intemperance  and  the  social  evils;  the  divine  rights  of 
childhood;  the  kindergarten  system  of  education  and  the  need 
of  social  purity  for  higher  development  of  the  race  were,  with 
Mrs.  Kemp,  the  theme  of  almost  constant  conversation.  Wher- 
ever she  abode  she  became  an  agitator  and  an  educator  of  public 
sentiment  in  the  right  direction,  and  when  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Association  became  a  National  organization  she 
was  the  first  to  establish  a  local  union  in  Harrisburg  as  well  as  at 
Hollidaysburg,  Pa.  None  but  the  pioneers  in  this  noble  and 
now  exalted  cause  can  understand  the  conflict  between  the 
liquor  power  and  its  opponents,  the  curse  of  the  open  saloon  and 
the  invasion  of  the  purity  and  privacy  of  the  home  which  it 
heralded.  Often  and  often  were  Mrs.  Kemp's  motives  impugned 
and  misunderstood,  but  she  valiantly  forged  ahead  in  arousing 
the  women  in  the  cause  from  which  they  were  the  greatest  suffer- 
ers until  a  large  number  of  the  wisest  and  best  flocked  to  the 
standard  which  she  so  valiantly  upheld  and  enrolled  them- 
selves as  fellow  workers. 

The  death,  while  yet  in  infancy,  of  her  two  younger  children 
and,  some  years  later,  of  her  husband  left  her  with  the  eldest 
daughter,  Marie  Antoinette,  upon  whom  to  concentrate  her 
wealth  of  motherly  love  and  consecrated  ambition. 

Lovely  Marie !    Even  when  a  child  she  attracted  the  attention 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

of  all  with  whom  she  came  in  contact.  Unlike  her  mother  in 
appearance,  she  was  a  brunette  with  great,  dark,  brilliant  and 
soulful  eyes  and  a  wealth  of  chestnut-brown  hair.  Like  her 
father,  mentally  she  was  a  human  interrogation-point  craving 
to  know  "Why"  and  "Wherefore"  of  all  with  which  she  came 
in  contact.  With  a  maturity  far  beyond  her  years  she  distanced 
in  grasp  of  thought  the  children  of  her  acquaintance  and  became 
her  mother's  dearest  and  closest  companion.  The  youthful 
"Tottie,"  as  she  was  then  familiarly  called,  became  an  uncon- 
scious leader  among  the  children  of  her  set  who,  upon  all  occa- 
sions, deferred  to  her  opinion.  But  she  assumed  no  proprietary 
rights,  content  to  champion  her  adherents  and  to  give  to  her 
opponents — when  she  had  any — a  wide  berth.  When  ready  to 
enter  college  her  mother  chose  that  of  Swarthmore,  Pennsyl- 
vania, for  her  alma  mater,  and  at  the  close  of  her  four  years* 
course  she  was  the  valedictorian  of  her  class  consisting  of  eight 
young  gentlemen  and  five  young  ladies.  The  following  unso- 
licited testimonials  were  given  by  Marie  L.  Sanford  of  the  college 
and  Dr.  E.  H.  Magill,  its  president: 

Said  the  former:  "Of  all  the  graduates  who  have  gone  out  of 
Swarthmore  College  during  the  nine  years  that  I  have  been 
connected  with  it,  there  has  not  been  one  of  finer  promise  than 
Marie  A.  Kemp.  As  a  student  in  the  classroom,  as  a  practical 
teacher  and  in  the  social  circle  she  everywhere  takes  the  palm. 
Gentle  and  modest  in  her  manners,  thorough  and  clean  in  her 
scholarship,  calm  and  firm  in  positions  of  responsibility,  she 
cannot  fail  to  achieve  unusual  success  as  a  teacher  and  to  give 
tone  and  charm  to  the  social  life  in  which  she  moves." 

Said  the  latter  when  asked  his  opinion  of  Marie  A.  Kemp's 
qualifications  as  a  graduate:  "Marie  A.  Kemp  has  now  almost 
completed  a  regular  course  of  study  in  this  college  and  will  be 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  at  our  coming  commence- 
ment. There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  she  will  be  the  vale- 
dictorian of  her  class.  During  the  ten  years  of  the  existence  of 
this  college  she  has  shown  herself  a  young  woman  of  unusual 
ability  in  imparting  knowledge  and  of  unquestionable  power 
of  control.  I  should  most  unqualifiedly  commend  her  for 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

any  position  which  she  would  consider  herself  competent  to 
fill." 

In  June,  1887,  Dr.  Kemp  and  her  daughter  sailed  for  Europe. 
The  mental  condition  of  the  former  was  most  happy,  as  a  brief 
quotation  from  the  first  pages  of  her  diary  proves:  "A  more 
propitious  day  never  smiled  on  woman  than  the  one  in  which  I 
left  my  native  city  for  the  foreign  shores.  It  was  all  the  physical 
and  spiritual  nature  could  desire.  Friends  everywhere  wished 
us  bon  voyage.  The  last  morning  was  spent  in  listening  to  the 
eight  girl  graduates  of  Miss  Woodward's  Seminary  upon  such 
topics  as  many  would  have  been  led  to  believe  could  only  be 
discussed  by  those  having  age  and  experience.  The  way  in 
which  these  various  themes  were  handled  proves  that  time, 
thought,  talent  and  ability  were  not  lacking  in  the  education  of 
these  girls.  Ah,  the  joy  our  children  bring  when  time  and  priv- 
ilege are  given  to  develop  their  heavenly  gift ! 

"At  3:30  the  cars  separated  us  from  the  loving  group  that 
had  assembled  to  take  a  last  adieu.  The  picture  is  still  mirrored 
on  my  brain.  My  heart-strings  have  not  ceased  to  vibrate  at  the 
sight  of  that  beautiful  occasion.  Love  is  the  divine  element, 
and  its  impress  the  most  enduring.  How  I  wish  I  could  have  had 
the  living  reality  photographed  to  carry  with  me! 

"As  we  were  borne  rapidly  along,  Middletown  and  Lancaster 
were  soon  lost  to  sight.  The  luxuriant  vegetation  of  June 
rendered  hill  and  dale  a  lovely  picture.  All  seemed  a  forerunner 
of  peace  and  plenty,  a  harbinger  of  joy.  At  the  Philadelphia 
depot  another  group  of  friends  awaited  our  arrival.  Daughter 
and  I  were  separated  for  the  night,  I  being  taken  to  the  home  of 
Miss  Thompson,  sister  of  Edgar  Thompson,  who  desired  me 
to  spend  my  last  night  in  Pennsylvania  under  her  hospitable 
roof.  Our  acquaintance  has  been  of  short  duration  and  is 
bound  by  the  ties  of  Woman's  Suffrage  needs,  both  of  us  having 
been  born  into  the  kingdom  of  the  much-needed  truth.  The 
presence  of  Miss  Matilda  Hindman,  a  devoted  leader  of  this  new 
gospel,  completed  our  trio.  The  next  morning  we  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  meeting  Miss  Charlotte  Grey  of  Antwerp,  European 
organizer  of  the  International  W.  C.  T.  IL,  who  gave  us  letters 

8 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

to  Miss  F.  Koolmanne,  secretary  of  the  World's  Temperance 
Conference.  Thus,  how  beautifully  the  way  was  being  opened 
to  meet  kindred  spirits  in  the  Old  World !  At  New  York  another 
group  was  in  waiting  near  the  Waesland  steamer  of  the  Red 
Star  line,  who  presented  us  with  flowers  and  a  beautiful  silk  flag 
with  which  to  wave  our  last  adieus  as  we  were  being  borne  away 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  mighty  deep." 

Arriving  in  Europe  the  mother  and  daughter  entered  upon 
an  entirely  new  life.  Facilities  for  meeting  with  the  most 
intelligent  people  in  the  highest  social  rank  came  to  them  so 
easily  and  unsought  for,  it  was  impossible  not  to  believe  that  a 
special  Providence  had  a  hand  in  thus  shaping  their  course. 
Marie  entered  the  University  of  Zurich,  Switzerland,  for  a  special 
course  of  study  which  would  enable  her  to  perfect  herself  in  the 
German  language  and  its  literature,  while  Dr.  Kemp  engaged 
in  a  certain  branch  of  scientific  research. 

A  year  later  a  portion  of  the  following  letter  from  the  latter 
to  a  friend  in  America  revealed  her  sentiments  in  reference  to 
the  Eternal  City: 

ROME,  ITALY,  5-2-88. 

DEAR  ONE:  We  are  at  last  in  Old  Rome,  traveling  over  those  seven 
hills.  We  have  been  wandering  for  a  week.  We  have  beheld  the  Coli- 
seum, the  ruins,  within  whose  walls  thirty  thousand  people  could  be 
seated.  We  have  seen  the  ruins  of  the  old  Forum,  and  the  spot  where 
Brutus  killed  Caesar.  We  have  been  to  the  Vatican  and  to  St.  Peter's. 
The  last  church  we  visited  was  St.  John  Lateran.  I  was  obliged  to  go 
out  twice  during  the  morning  service  to  get  warm  in  the  sunshine.  The 
houses  and  churches  being  built  of  marble  or  stone  are  always  cool  and 
often  cold.  Every  day  we  meet  people  from  America,  many  groups 
that  we  have  met  before.  How  we  cling  together!  There  is  so  much 
wreck  and  ruin  all  around  and  in  the  city.  We  were  in  the  catacombs 
of  a  small  church  last  evening  whose  walls  were  lined  with  human  bones 
and  the  ceilings  with  skulls.  Groups  of  monks  are  to  be  seen  in  all 
parts  of  the  city:  the  Franciscans  dressed  in  brown  serge  gowns  with  no 
stockings  and  their  feet  thrust  in  wooden  slippers.  Nevertheless,  they 
look  sleek  and  well  fed.  These,  with  the  many  soldiers  and  tourists, 
are  in  great  contrast  with  the  working  people. 

I  was  taught  that  the  Italians  were  lazy.    On  the  contrary,  I  found 

9 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 


everybody  at  work.  The  builders,  the  masons,  the  carriers,  the  drivers, 
the  mechanics,  all  seemed  working  very  hard.  Many  live  upon  the 
streets  but  all  are  occupied.  Donkeys  are  quite  numerous.  These, 
with  dogs,  horses  and  human  beings,  all  in  a  medley,  crowd  the  streets 
which  have  no  pavements  or  sidewalks  and  often  are  so  narrow  as  scarce 
to  permit  a  cart  to  pass. 

We  attended  Rev.  Nevin's  church  yesterday,  also  the  St.  John 
Lateran.  In  the  evening  we  joined  Rev.  Yering's  Bible  Class  which 
has  disbanded  for  the  season.  We  have  seen  many  groups  of  pilgrims 
going  to  St.  Peter's  to  attend  the  special  service  held  for  them  but  all 
was  said  in  the  Latin  language.  Oh,  how  my  heart  ached  for  these 
people!  We  are  taught  the  letter  killeth.  It  is  the  spirit  which  maketh 
alive.  The  magnificent  paraphernalia  of  the  priests  and  their  attend- 
ants clad  in  lace,  girdles  and  golden  ornaments  made  them  look  resplend- 
ent. All  of  them  had  seats  save  five  or  six,  while  the  audience  stood 
upon  cold,  marble  floors.  Many  wealthy  ladies  had  blanket  scarfs 
carried  by  their  attendants.  The  peasantry  have  their  own  peculiar 
styles.  Their  ornaments  are  very  picturesque  but  burdensome;  they 
consisted  of  weighty  earrings,  massive  chains  and  gilded  crosses.  What 
is  most  to  be  regretted  is  then-  lamentable  ignorance.  Medals,  statues, 
statuettes  and  paintings  of  the  Pope  are  thickly  strewn  throughout  the 
city.  The  beautiful  simplicity  of  childlike  worship  as  enjoyed  in  our 
W.  C.  T.  U.  meetings,  without  the  loud  ringing  of  bells,  burning  of 
incense  or  peals  from  the  organ,  is  a  contrast,  the  truth  of  which  I  pray 
may  be  realized  by  all  those  who  sincerely  desire  an  entrance  into  the 
Heavenly  Kingdom.  I  often  ask  myself,  What  is  it  ye  went  out  to  see  ? 
The  foreign  climes  ?  The  people  of  many  nations  ?  All  are  here  in  this 
cosmopolitan  city.  For  some  my  heart  aches;  for  others  I  rejoice  when  I 
see  the  light  of  truth  and  intelligence  depicted  upon  their  faces.  These 
are  mostly  students  to  whom  the  truth  has  been  revealed.  We  have 
made  many  charming  acquaintances,  two  of  whom  are  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Carpenter  of  Boston  who  have  been  studying  Grecian  life  in  Greece. 
Their  conversation  is  illuminating. 

I  regret  to  say  that  I  left  Paris  before  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  formed, 
but  I  believe  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Parisian  women  will 
join  hands  with  the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Lord  and  Lady  Mount  Temple  made  arrangements  to  have  me 
present  the  subject  at  an  afternoon  parlor  meeting  over  which  the  former 
presided.  They  were  on  their  way  from  Nice  to  London,  stopping  for 
a  few  days  with  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Spencer  Cooper.  I  wish  you  could  have 
heard  their  praises  of  the  Union  Signal,  which  they  read  in  Nice  when 

10 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

stopping  with  Countess  of  Caithness,  Duchesse  de  Pomar.  This  lady 
is  a  member  of  our  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  who  sent  me  from  Nice  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Spencer  Cooper,  whom  I  found  to  be  a 
most  charming  conversationalist;  she  has  consented  to  read  whatever  I 
may  send  her  on  the  subject  of  temperance.  I  have  since  breakfasted 
and  lunched  with  her  several  times  when  all  our  conversation  was  upon 
the  reforms  of  the  day.  Although  not  a  total  abstainer,  she  is  sincere, 
and  her  conviction  is  but  a  matter  of  time  and  education  on  the  subject. 
When  total  abstinence  is  presented  in  its  true  scientific  and  religious  light, 
when  the  truth  becomes  perfectly  clear  to  her  mind,  she  will  not  hesitate 
to  accept  it.  Mrs.  Cooper  would  make  a  splendid  officer.  Being  a 
lady  of  leisure,  culture,  education  and  high  social  position,  the  cause 
might  grow  with  her  support. 

Lady  Caithness  wrote  me  she  would  give  garden  parties  after  her 
return  to  Paris,  where  the  subject  of  temperance  could  be  discussed, 
but  our  arrangements  took  us  away  from  Paris  a  few  days  after  her 
return.  We  saw  each  other  last  at  the  reception  of  Madame  Bogelot, 
who  represented  France  at  the  International  Council  of  Women  held  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  March  25,  1888. 

A  reception  was  given  by  Madame  de  Morsier,  one  of  the  Parisian 
philanthropists,  to  Madame  Bogelot.  An  Italian  sculptress  made  a 
bust  of  her,  and  a  wreath  of  laurel  with  many  flowers  was  presented 
as  tokens  of  admiration  and  respect.  She  received  all  smilingly  and 
then  told  of  all  that  she  had  seen  and  heard  during  her  first  visit  to 
America.  How  her  heart  was  touched  by  the  delicate  attentions  every- 
where shown  her — of  her  visit  to  the  White  House,  where  she  met  two 
of  her  own  countrywomen  in  this  new  country!  It  melted  their  hearts 
as  they  joined  hands — tears  of  love  and  gratitude  flowed,  which  they 
soon  drove  away,  lest  the  great  President  might  see  them  and  ascribe  it 
to  another  source  other  than  their  love  of  their  own  country  and  of  each 
other. 

I  utterly  fail  to  tell  you  of  the  pleasure  I  had  that  afternoon  with  those 
truly  refined  and  excellent  women  nor  how  we  are  enjoying  every  hour 
of  our  stay  here.  Affectionately  yours, 

AGNES  KEMP. 

During  these  four  years  abroad  the  mother  and  daughter 
enjoyed  rare  facilities  for  impressing  themselves  upon  people  in 
their  own  sphere  of  mental  and  moral  activities.  In  1 899  Dr. 
Kemp  delivered  her  oft-quoted  address  upon  "Health  and 
Physical  Culture"  before  the  Institute  Polyglot  in  Paris. 

11 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

In  the  same  month  from  a  copy  of  Le  Figaro  containing  an 
account  of  a  meeting  of  women  of  various  nationalities,  for  the 
amelioration,  moralization  and  regeneration  of  man,  the  editor 
thus  wrote:  "Miss  Kemp,  une  jeune  Americaine  a  expose,  avec 
un  charmant  accent  et  une  grande  amiabilite  le  grand  mouvement 
des  femmes  de  VAmerique  du  Nord"  She  also  read  a  paper  on 
the  23d  of  January,  in  Paris,  before  the  conference  of  the  Insti- 
tute of  Languages  which  won  for  her  high  approval.  Her 
theme  was  "The  Poems  and  Influence  of  James  Russell  Lowell.'* 
Her  peculiar  fascination  was  particularly  felt  by  Mrs.  Thomasson, 
the  niece  of  John  Bright,  who  invited  her  to  accompany  her 
family  in  a  tour  through  the  Mediterranean,  stopping  at  Gibral- 
tar, Algiers  and  other  ports.  The  descriptive  letters  furnished 
to  the  American  press  by  Marie  during  this  trip  are  of  a  high 
order  and  replete  with  interest. 

Meanwhile  invitations  to  lecture  before  various  associations 
were  flowing  in  upon  Dr.  Kemp.  One  from  "Pembridge  Place, 
London,"  is  a  specimen.  It  read  as  follows: 

DEAR  MADAME:  As  I  am  just  going  abroad  I  am  precluded  from 
meeting  you  at  Mrs.  Ingram  Walker's  on  the  8th  inst.  I  am  to  ask  if  it 
would  be  possible  for  you  to  grant  us  the  great  favor  of  addressing  our 
North  Kensington  Woman's  Liberal  Association  on  the  first  Thursday 
in  November  or  December,  or  even  February,  1891.  We  have  a  young 
but  very  earnest  association,  and  if  you  could  see  your  way  to  give  us 
your  interesting  lecture  upon  the  American  Crusade  of  1873  and  1874 
on  either  of  the  Thursdays  which  I  have  mentioned  you  would  confer  a 
great  favor  upon  Yours  faithfully, 

T.  L.  MALLET. 

The  source  of  her  popularity  and  the  style  of  her  addresses 
can  best  be  gleaned  from  an  editorial  which  appeared  in  the 
New  York  Tribune: 

"Mrs.  Agnes  Kemp,  a  Harrisburg  woman,  electrifies  a 
Parisian  audience  by  her  eloquence." 

"The  regular  Paris  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
in  describing  a  recent  meeting  for  Woman's  Work  held  in  the 
French  metropolis,  pays  the  following  tribute  to  one  of  Harris- 

12 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

burg's  well-known  citizens.  Mrs.  Kemp  and  her  daughter  were 
at  this  meeting  and  both  spoke,  the  daughter  in  French  and  the 
mother  in  English.  Each  in  her  way  was  a  success. 

"The  mother  has  a  fine  face,  nobly  outlined,  sweet  of  ex- 
pression and  crowned  with  soft,  gray  hair.  There  was  decision 
and  firmness  as  well  as  kindliness  in  her  face.  The  figure  of  a 
charming  model  and  erect,  went  well  with  the  head.  She  was 
tastefully  and  becomingly  draped  in  a  robe  of  coarse  black 
stuff. 

"This  lady,  speaking  out  of  a  wide  experience  and  deep 
conviction,  was  eloquent  and  became  more  and  more  so  as  she 
went  on.  Her  eloquence  reminded  me  of  the  effect  produced 
by  the  cutting  of  the  wire  which  holds  down  the  cork  of  a  cham- 
pagne bottle.  The  cork  first  moves  a  little  and  then  more  and 
more  until,  at  last,  it  bursts  out  and  the  foaming  nectar  bubbles 
over. 

"Mrs.  Kemp,  being  a  strict  temperance  woman,  would  not 
perhaps  relish  this  simile.  Her  wish  for  equal  rights  in  this 
country  springs  from  a  desire  to  put  down  the  dark  demon  to 
which  phylloxera  has  given  a  fine  field  by  destroying  the  vine 
and  affording  an  opportunity  to  distillers  of  bad  alcohol,  of  which 
they  are  availing  themselves. 

"Mrs.  Kemp  gave  the  meeting  an  account  of  the  leading 
part  American  women  are  taking  in  the  temperance  movement 
and  of  the  good  work  done  by  Miss  Willard  who  presides  over 
a  society  which  numbers  more  than  five  hundred  thousand 
working  in  thirty-eight  departments  of  work. 

"Mrs.  Kemp  invited  the  women  of  Paris  to  join  them,  to 
combine  to  work  in  the  same  direction,  and  that  they  would 
cause  the  children  in  the  schools  to  be  taught  how  intoxicating 
drinks  acted  upon  the  different  organs  and  functions  of  the  body." 

A  portion  of  this  address  was,  fortunately,  preserved  and 
afterward  repeated  at  home. 

She  said:  "There  is  an  army  abroad  that  is  not  in  the  service 
of  the  Divine  Master,  whose  members  stalk  about  the  country 
so  defaced  that  the  divine  impress  is  lost.  There  are  they  who 
have  woe,  and  sorrow,  and  contentions,  and  babbling,  and 

13 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

wounds  without  cause.  They  have  redness  of  eyes,  blotched 
faces,  foul  mouths  and  slackness  of  gait,  for  alcohol  takes  away 
the  glow  of  health  from  the  cheek,  the  luster  from  the  eye  and 
the  beauty  and  comeliness  from  the  face,  leaving  it  ill-shaped 
and  bloated. 

"Alcohol  has  such  power  we  liken  it  unto  the  King  of  Destruc- 
tion, or  Satan  in  solution,  photographing  himself  upon  the 
Divine  image.  Alcoholic  beverages  take  strength  from  the 
limbs  and  firmness  from  the  steps,  making  them  faltering  and 
treacherous.  It  takes  vitality  from  the  blood  and  fills  it  with 
poison  and  the  seeds  of  disease  and  death.  It  takes  the  impress 
of  manhood  from  the  face  and  leaves  upon  it  the  marks  of  sensu- 
ality and  brutishness.  It  bribes  to  madness  and  cursing.  It 
turns  the  hands  from  deeds  of  usefulness  to  instruments  of 
brutality  and  murder.  It  has  made  a  kind  and  indulgent  father 
a  brute  and  a  tyrant,  and  transformed  a  loving  mother  into  a 
very  fiend.  It  has  taken  luxuries  from  the  rich  man's  table  and 
compelled  them  to  cry  out  because  of  famine  and  to  beg  for 
bread.  It  has  stripped  backs  of  broadcloths  and  silk  and 
clothed  them  with  rags.  It  has  taken  away  acres  and  denied  even 
a  decent  burial  in  death.  We  all  know  how  it  feeds  almshouses 
and  compels  us  to  keep  an  army  of  policemen  to  tramp  up  and 
down  the  land  by  day  and  night.  It  brings  hunger  and  cold 
and  nakedness  into  thousands  of  families.  It  is  the  Great 
Dragon  ravaging  the  land  and  doing  it,  Great  God,  by  per- 
mission of  the  people. 

"It  is  against  this  unrighteous,  this  unholy  traffic  we  women 
are  waging  a  war.  We  are  recruiting  for  an  army  of  women. 
It  is  woman's  work  to  assist  in  ridding  the  land  of  this  destructive 
element,  this  invisible  spirit  of  wine  which  Shakespeare  says,  'We 
call  thee  Devil !' 

"A  law  suit  has  been  set  up  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Public 
Opinion,  viz. :  the  women  of  the  nation  versus  the  liquor  traffic, 
and  before  this  question  can  be  settled  there  is  much  work  to 
be  done  intelligently  and  scientifically — for  science  is  but  the 
unfolding  of  God's  laws.  It  must  be  done  religiously.  We 
must  have  hearts  filled  with  love  for  humanity.  God  is  love, 

14 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

and  love  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  We  must  learn  more  of 
His  law  that  we  may  have  more  of  His  love.  Love  makes  the 
heart  light  and  the  work  easy.  It  quickens  our  footsteps  to  do 
errands  of  mercy;  not  alone  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the 
naked  but  to  enlighten  the  ignorant.  Ignorance  being  the 
mother  of  sin  is  personified  in  the  devil  who  is  the  father  of  lies, 
while  God  who  is  the  fountain  of  all  knowledge  is  personified  in 
Christ  who  is  'the  light  of  the  world.*  Ruskin  says:  'Men  often 
think  to  bring  about  great  results  by  violent  and  unprepared 
effort,  but  it  is  only  in  fair  and  forecast  order,  as  the  earth 
bringeth  forth  her  seed,  that  righteousness  and  praise  may 
spring  forth  before  the  nations.' 

"The  W.  C.  T.  U.  believes  that  the  educational  method  is 
one  of  the  surest  and  shortest  ways  of  reaching  the  desired  end. 
We  believe  the  people  are  intemperate  from  ignorance  rather 
than  from  choice,  and  that  if  the  facts  relating  to  the  evil  effect 
of  alcohol  were  fully  known,  the  common  sense  of  the  community 
would  introduce  a  reform  upon  such  a  sure  foundation  as  would 
lead  to  the  most  important,  and  lasting  benefits  to  the  nation. 
'My  people  are  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge,'  saith  the 
Lord. 

"We  have  not  studied  the  truths  which  science  has  given  us 
in  the  nature  of  alcohol  and  its  effects  upon  the  human  system. 
Science  has  proven  alcohol  to  be  a  poison.  We  need  to  convince 
the  masses  that  in  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  lies  the  abuse 
to  the  user.  The  light  of  reason  must  be  fed  by  the  oil  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  dangers  lying  along  the  ambushed  streets  of  a  land 
filled  with  saloons. 

"This  knowledge  must  be  imparted  to  men,  women  and 
children,  particularly  to  the  latter.  Save  our  boys  and  girls 
now,  if  it  is  in  any  degree  possible.  Arm  the  children  in  their 
school  days  against  that  one  great  evil  which  will  surely  assail 
each  of  them,  and  at  the  same  time  give  them  scientific  instruction 
in  so  logical  and  pleasant  a  form  that  the  acquirement  of  it  will 
be  excellent  mental  discipline." 

Thus  she  plead  abroad  and  at  home  with  all  the  earnestness 
of  her  positive  nature  and  won  the  plaudits  of  the  multitudes 

15 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

who  listened  with  profoundest  interest  to  every  word  which  fell 
from  her  lips. 

Her  influence  upon  the  temperance  sentiment  of  Europe, 
then  being  agitated  by  its  most  enlightened  and  aggressive 
women  under  the  united  banners  of  Frances  E.  Willard  and 
Lady  Henry  Somerset,  was  deeply  felt  and  warmly  recognized. 
Most  flattering  comments  upon  her  addresses  on  "Social  Purity," 
"Health  and  Physical  Culture,"  "Temperance"  in  its  various 
phases  and  other  reforms  which  lay  close  to  her  heart,  came 
from  the  European  to  the  American  press,  assuring  her  many 
friends  that  her  splendid  courage  and  noble  zeal  had  not  weak- 
ened in  the  conservative  atmosphere  which  pervaded  the  Old 
World. 

Marie  always  shared  in  her  gifted  mother's  social  triumphs 
when  not  traveling  with  noted  friends  over  the  Continent. 
Living  with  a  German  family  of  distinction  she  was  laying  the 
broad  foundation  for  a  knowledge  of  Germany's  best  literature 
and  its  language  and  preparing  herself  for  the  distinguished  and 
responsible  position  she  was  destined,  afterward,  to  fill. 

Having  the  entree  into  the  most  exclusive  and  refined  circles 
in  Germany,  England  and  France,  the  two  insensibly  acquired 
a  degree  of  culture  which  only  those  so  fortunately  situated  can 
attain. 

After  an  absence  of  four  years  abroad  they  returned  to  their 
"native  heath"  wholly  equipped  for  the  duties  which  awaited 
them — Marie  to  become  professor  of  German  at  Swarthmore 
College,  and  her  mother  to  fulfil  the  law  of  her  being,  viz.: 
"to  do  whatsoever  her  hand  found  to  do  with  all  her  might." 

The  range  of  the  "whatevers"  covered  a  wide  field,  including 
temperance,  peace  and  arbitration,  woman's  suffrage  and 
everything  necessary  to  one's  spiritual  and  physical  uplift. 

Mrs.  Kemp's  adherence  to  her  simple  religious  faith  has  ever 
been  one  of  her  strongest  points.  This  fact  is  revealed  in  a 
letter  written  to  and  published  in  a  prominent  Harrisburg  paper, 
The  Patriot,  during  the  progress  of  a  religious  controversy. 
She  said: 

"DEAR  Patriot:     Our  city  has  been  stirred  up  considerably 

16 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

within  the  last  few  weeks  on  account  of  differences  of  religious 
views  between  sects.  I  regret  the  spirit  manifested. 

"If  light  and  life  are  not  set  forth  in  our  arguments,  how 
can  we  be  benefited  by  statements  which  we  have  not  the  power 
to  prove  ?  I  am  not  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  I  believe  that  those 
Christians  who  differ  from  this  branch  of  the  Christian  Church 
will  never  be  benefited  from  the  arguments  and  statements  given 
in  the  Daily  Patriot,  as  written  within  their  recent  issues. 

"The  religion  of  Jesus,  the  Christ,  is  plain  and  beautifully 
simple — we  are  commanded  to  love  one  another.  Do  we  do  it  ? 
Also  to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves,  which  you  know  we  do 
not.  To  bless  them  that  curse  you.  Our  blessed  Lord  said 
when  on  the  Cross,  'Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do/ 

"Remember  the  letter  killeth;  it  is  the  spirit  that  giveth  life. 
No  one  has  ever  seen  God.  All  that  we  have  that  is  written  has 
come  through  mankind  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
I  believe  there  are  many  errors  among  the  sects,  but  they  will  not 
always  remain  so  extreme,  for  light  is  dawning  so  rapidly  upon 
us  that  the  old  things  are  passing  away  and  soon  all  things  will 
become  new.  The  present  environment  will  not  much  longer 
permit  mental  imprisonment.  Newness  of  life  must  not  be 
fettered  by  narrowness  of  view. 

"Many  of  our  people  are  suffering  from  mental  contraction, 
some  are  fossilized,  while  others  are  enshrouded  in  a  myriad  of 
non-essentials  and  thus  imprisoned.  Now,  a  most  beautiful 
feature,  a  hopeful  promise  comes  with  the  eye  of  faith,  awakened 
by  a  growth  into  a  knowledge  of  truth,  that  glorious  truth  which 
frees  us  from  error,  that  knowledge  which  removes  ignorance. 

"The  command  is,  'Search  the  Scriptures;  for  in  them  ye 
think  ye  have  eternal  life;  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me.' 
This  does  not  mean  the  Bible  alone,  but  nature,  art,  science, 
literature  and  religion.  I  believe  the  innumerable  sects  are 
so  bound  by  customs,  creeds  and  isms  that  the  beautiful  simplic- 
ity of  Christ's  teachings  are  almost  lost  sight  of  by  many. 
This  is  owing  to  the  influences  of  one's  environment  all  through 
the  journey  of  life. 

17 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

"We  know  the  laws  of  the  universe  are  God's  laws.  They 
existed  before  we  had  a  Christ  or  a  Bible.  His  laws  are  the 
same  yesterday,  today  and  forever.  To  me,  it  is  my  religious 
duty  to  learn  all  that  is  needed  of  his  laws  that  will  assist  me  in 
fulfilling  the  commands  of  Holy  Writ,  which  have  proved  them- 
selves such  by  experience.  'Tis  our  duty  to  aim  after  perfection. 
Let  us  not  let  our  angry  passions  arise  and  say  that  which  stirs 
up  angry  feelings.  " AGNES  KEMP." 

Second  only  to  her  enthusiastic  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
temperance  in  its  various  ramifications  was  her  adherence  to 
the  principles  which  advocated  the  political  enfranchisement 
of  women.  She  was  among  the  pioneers  of  that  great  and  much- 
needed  reform,  having  given  to  it  most  freely  of  her  time,  her 
influence  and  her  money. 

A  characteristic  letter  from  that  great  apostle  of  the  move- 
ment, Susan  B.  Anthony,  is  sacredly  preserved  among  her 
archives.  It  reads  thus: 

ROCHESTEB,  NEW  YORK,  March  15, 1900. 
MRS.  AGNES  KEMP, 

Swarthmore,  Pa. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND:  Enclosed  is  the  certificate  of  your  membership 
for  the  fifty-dollar  check  which  you  mailed  on  the  6th  inst.  It  has  been 
impossible  for  me  to  get  about  filling  the  certificates  until  now.  It  is 
just  one  week  ago  tonight  since  I  returned  home  and  I  have  been  mighty 
busy  every  minute  of  the  daylight  in  that  time. 

It  is  splendid  of  you  to  make  yourself  a  lif e  member.  I  can  remember 
how  earnest  you  were  away  back  in  the  sixties  and  how  I  met  you  once 
with  Mrs.  Helen  Philleo  Jenkins  at  Madame  Demorest's  place.  It  was 
at  the  time  of  the  Susan  King  tea  experiment.  I  have  ever  since  counted 
you  among  our  faithful  members. 

I  am  very  sorry  the  convention  work  was  too  much  for  your  physical 
strength.  It  was  a  very  severe  strain  upon  me,  not  only  during  the  ten 
days  of  the  convention  and  celebration,  but  the  ten  days  before  and 
after  them.  The  whole  month  was  one  continued  meeting  and  talking 
with  friends,  but  I  went  through  it  pretty  well;  then  spent  a  week  with 
our  dear  friend  Mrs.  Bartol  in  Philadelphia,  visiting  other  friends  day 
by  day,  and  then  a  second  week  in  New  York  City.  There  I  stayed 

18 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

with  my  cousin,  Mrs.  Lapham,  and  spent  a  day  with  Mrs.  Stanton 
another  with  Dr.  Jacobi,  and  yet  another  at  our  new  headquarters, 
2008  American  Tract  Building,  wherein  they  seemed  to  be  getting  along 
into  good  running  order. 

Our  new  president  will,  I  am  sure,  prove  to  be  just  the  right  woman 
to  be  entrusted  with  the  herculean  work  which  awaits  our  association, 
so  I  hope  the  friends  in  all  the  States  will  rally  around  her,  and  in  thought, 
word  and  deed  sustain  her  right  royally  and  loyally. 

That  is  a  beautiful  letter  which  you  enclose  from  Elizabeth  M. 
Garrett.  I  should  like  to  have  been  present  when  you  gave  your  report 
on  all  you  saw  and  heard  in  Washington.  It  was  too  bad  you  had  to 
leave  on  the  14th  of  February  so  could  not  tell  all  that  happened  on  the 
15th  in  the  Lafayette  Opera  House  and  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery. 

As  you  say,  these  conventions  are  schools  in  which  the  Antis  would 
do  well  to  be  present.  I  wonder  if  you  were  present  at  either  of  the 
hearings  on  the  morning  of  the  13th.  The  poor  Antis  surely  were  to 
be  pitied,  for  their  very  weak  exhibition  of  themselves  and  their  "lost" 
cause.  Very  affectionately  yours, 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 

Accompanying  this  was  an  excellent  photograph  of  the  donor 
bearing  the  legend: 

Political  equality  of  rights  for  women,  civil  and  political,  is  today 
and  has  been  for  the  past  half-century  the  one  demand  of 

Yours  sincerely, 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 

This  sentiment  was  faithfully  echoed  by  Mrs.  Kemp  during 
the  "half -century"  of  Miss  Anthony's  activities,  and  many  of 
the  women's  educational  and  industrial  triumphs  of  today  owe 
their  existence  and  success  to  her  indefatigable  efforts  and  rigid 
adherence  to  principle  in  this  direction. 

In  this  special  line  of  reform  she  was  supplemented  by  her 
highly  gifted  and  accomplished  daughter  Marie,  who,  upon 
her  return  from  Europe,  had  accepted  the  position  of  professor 
of  German  at  Swarthmore  College  and  began  a  career  short 
but  brilliant  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

It  has  been  said  of  this  beautiful  woman  that  not  the  least 

19 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

of  her  gifts  was  her  wonderful  eloquence  which  she  was  ever 
ready  to  use  both  in  the  service  of  the  college  and  wherever  the 
opportunity  for  saying  the  word  in  season  occurred.  She  never 
refused  the  request  when  any  public  occasion  demanded  a  speech, 
and  everyone  who  knew  Swarthmore  in  those  days  remembers 
with  delight  the  charm  and  grace  with  which  she  was  always 
sure  to  meet  the  occasion.  Her  power  to  lift  and  move  men 
never  failed  her,  and  her  perfectly  chosen  words  were  always 
laden  with  thought.  Everyone  came  away  from  hearing  her 
with  spirits  quickened.  For  this  eloquence  was  the  true  ex- 
pression of  a  lovely  Christian  character,  a  nature  instinct  with 
tact,  delicacy  and  refinement,  whose  gentle  courtesy  and  unfailing 
charity  won  all  who  knew  her. 

In  this  connection  the  report  of  an  able  address  which  she 
delivered  before  an  annual  convention  of  Equal  Suffragists 
held  in  Kennett  Square,  Pa.,  attests  her  sympathy  with  her 
mother  in  this  notable  movement. 

The  speakers  for  the  occasion  were  Professor  Marie  Kemp 
and  Judge  W.  W.  Ashman  of  Philadelphia.  Said  the  intelligent 
reporter:  "Professor  Marie  Kemp  is  an  attractive  woman.  She 
has  grace  and  tact,  a  sweet,  persuasive  voice,  an  extraordinary 
gift  of  language  and  a  logical,  well-ordered  mind.  She  charms 
and  never  repels.  Her  influence  upon  her  audience  on  Saturday 
was  magnetic.  She  referred  to  the  movement  as  having  been 
heretofore  known  as  the  'women's  rights'  movement.  'To 
claim  our  rights,'  said  she,  'is  just  and  right,  but  service  is  so 
much  nobler.  The  first  women  who  undertook  this  work  were 
called  monkeys  because  they  tried  to  ape  men.  They  were 
bitterly  persecuted,  socially  ostracized  and  looked  upon  with 
contempt.  We  look  back  upon  their  efforts,  their  fortitude  and 
their  courage,  and  are  deeply  grateful  as  we  realize  how  easy 
for  us  today  is  the  work  which  they  began.  Then,  in  demanding 
their  rights,  women  first  began  teaching,  in  very  humble  posi- 
tions. They  stepped  from  higher  to  higher  planes,  proving 
themselves  well  qualified  for  their  work,  and  from  their  excellent 
service  have  won  the  entrance  to  universities.  I,  myself,  am  not 
so  anxious  that  women  shall  vote  as  that  they  shall  wish  to  vote. 

20 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

I  do  not  think  that  women  are  fit  to  vote.  They  are  no  more 
fit  than  are  the  majority  of  the  men.  The  fact  that  these  men 
have  just  elected  Matthew  S.  Quay  to  the  chairmanship  of  the 
State  Committee  illustrates  their  unfitness.  What  I  want  is 
that  women  shall  want  to  vote.  Greece,  in  the  days  of  her 
greatness,  was  ruled  by  a  chosen  few.  Rome,  in  the  zenith  of 
her  power,  was  governed  by  a  small  number  of  patricians.  In 
this  country  the  people  rule,  yet  not  more  than  thirteen  million 
votes  are  ever  cast  when  twenty  millions  of  persons  are  entitled 
to  vote.  The  fact  that  so  large  a  class  is  indifferent  is  astonishing. 
The  women  who  are  esteemed  and  regarded  and  wield  so  much 
influence  in  society  are  not  allowed  to  vote.  I  think  that  the 
reason  that  American  women  are  not  voting  and  interesting 
themselves  as  English  women  do  is  a  lack  of  patriotism. 

"  'Our  whole  people  need  to  cultivate  a  deeper  patriotism 
and  love  of  country,  a  desire  to  minister  to  her  needs  and  render 
her  willing  service.  The  reason  we  do  not  vote  is  because  we 
do  not  want  to  vote.  It  is  a  question  of  interest.  Women  should 
be  the  best  patriots  because  of  their  motherhood.  The  motto 
today  is,  "We  learn  by  doing,"  therefore  I  want  to  see  women 
vote  in  order  that  they  may  learn  to  vote.' 

"At  this  point  in  her  address  the  speaker  very  ingeniously 
introduced  an  illustration  of  the  experiments  of  a  certain  eminent 
scientist  who  recently  took  a  number  of  shepherd  puppies  and 
put  them  through  a  course  for  the  world's  enlightenment.  He 
divided  the  animals  into  three  sets.  One  set  he  kept  in  a  dark 
place  where  they  lived  without  exercise;  another  set  he  put  at 
liberty;  the  third  he  allowed  to  roam  about,  but  taught  them 
carefully  to  distinguish  objects  by  sight.  He  placed  a  number 
of  different  colored  plates  upon  the  ground  and  put  their  food 
always  under  a  certain  colored  dish.  In  a  very  short  time  the 
dogs  would  go  only  for  the  plates  of  the  right  color  no  matter 
where  they  were  placed.  The  scientist  used  several  methods  in 
thus  instructing  the  dogs,  and  finally  killed  the  whole  number. 
The  first  set,  confined  in  the  dark,  were  found  in  examination 
of  their  brains  to  have  no  gray  matter;  in  the  brains  of  the  second 
lot  was  found  a  small  proportion  of  gray  matter,  and  in  those  of 

21 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

the  trained  dogs  was  found  twenty-five  times  as  much  gray 
matter  as  in  those  that  ran  at  large.  She  continued : 

"  Tdeas  of  education  and  woman's  duties  hare  broadened. 
I  read,  however,  the  protests  against  women  assuming  the  added 
responsibility  and  increased  duties  of  enfranchisement  because 
they  truly  fear  women  are  taking  on  too  many  burdens.  I  am 
convinced,  too,  that  the  carrying  on  of  a  double  profession  is  a 
mistake,  although  I  have  never  known  an  instance  where  the 
woman  physician  and  wife,  or  the  literary  woman  and  wife, 
have  neglected  either  avocation.  But  I  think  the  tax  is  a  heavy 
one.  I  believe,  however,  that  the  citizenship  of  women  will 
strengthen  and  elevate  marriage.  When  father  and  mother  and 
children  all  interest  themselves  in  moral  and  civil  problems  the 
bonds  of  the  house  will  broaden  and  strengthen.  Political 
electioneering  has  aroused  a  revulsion  among  many  good  people, 
and  the  suggestion  that  women  empowered  with  the  ballot  would 
enter  into  such  activities  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  against 
the  political  equality  of  women. 

"  'The  dames  of  the  English  Primrose  League  have  been 
noted  especially  for  their  success  at  electioneering,  and  in  viewing 
the  matter  from  a  point  of  service  the  problem  takes  on  quite  a 
different  aspect.  Love  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world,  and 
when  one  considers  that  many  of  the  illiterate,  ignorant  class 
often  give  their  votes  to  those  who  have  befriended  them,  even 
the  work  of  the  ward  politician  does  not  seem  so  bad. 

"  *  Goethe,  in  the  second  part  of  Faust,  gives  his  opinion  of 
the  problem  of  life.  This  great  work  illustrates  the  tragedy  of 
progress.  We  are  in  danger  of  becoming  the  victims  of  progress. 
We  refuse  to  give  up  our  old  theories  and  the  world  moves  on 
and  we  are  the  victims.  There  is  a  larger  sphere  for  women 
which  the  times  are  preparing  for  us.  Women  should  pre- 
eminently be  the  home-makers.  The  beautiful  sentiment  from 
Faust,  "The  woman  soul  leads  us  upward  and  onward,"  is  the 
key  to  much.  We  all  know  women  who  make  life,  even  with 
men  far  from  lovely,  a  blessed  and  glorified  service.  The  bound- 
aries of  the  home  extend  into  the  State  and  Nation,  and  where 
woman  takes  her  proper  place  she  will  carry  with  her  woman- 

22 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

hood,  and  if  we  can  bring  such  power  as  this  to  bear  upon  national 
affairs  then  have  we  won  great  service.* 

"The  subject,  the  speaker  claimed,  was  many-sided.  En- 
vironment and  one's  own  point  of  view  govern  opinions,  and  as 
people  have  prejudice  and  principle  tangled  up  she  begged  for 
an  honest  hearing.  A  conviction  is  not  gained  easily,  and  if  it 
comes  too  easily  one  may  beware  of  it.  Often  the  less  ground 
we  have  for  absolute  theory  the  more  we  differ.  Opposition  to 
the  higher  education  of  women  was  most  violent  because  most 
prejudiced. 

"Is  democracy  a  failure  ?  is  a  problem.  The  one  man  power 
in  the  great  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  fairly  staggers  one's 
faith  in  a  democratic  form  of  government.  One  point,  however, 
holds  my  faith.  In  many  points  many  of  the  governments  of 
Europe  surpass  our  own,  but  democracy  tends  to  build  character, 
and  no  price  is  too  high  to  pay  for  a  principle  like  that.  It 
gives  to  us  the  larger  opportunity  for  the  development  of  men. 
Citizenship  imposes  a  heavier  burden  in  America  than  in  any 
other  land,  and  the  whole  trend  of  civilization  is  toward  universal 
suffrage.  Will  democracy  stand  the  strain  of  a  mighty  class  of 
unprepared  and  untried  voteis?  The  greatest  good  will  never 
come  by  the  immediate  enfranchisement  of  this  class,  but  edu- 
cational suffrage — or  qualification  of  the  better  element,  the 
educated  class — would  certainly  infuse  a  wholesome  element 
into  the  body  politic  to  strengthen  the  better  characteristics  of 
our  Government.  There  are  grave  dangers  in  the  future  for 
us,  therefore  a  limited  suffrage  seems  better  with  universal 
suffrage  ultimately.  Home-making  is  woman's  first  calling. 
No  word  is  so  strong  as  the  word  home.  We  need  the  home- 
makers  in  government,  then  we  will  certainly  have  'home  pro- 
tection.' A  new  word  marks  a  new  epoch.  There  is  a  new  one 
uppermost  at  this  time.  It  is  Solidarity,  and  introduced  into 
political  science  means  the  interests  of  one  are  the  interests  of  all. 
It  is  the  new  phase  of  thought  at  the  close  of  this  century — one 
of  the  brightest  thoughts  of  the  times.  Society  is  an  organism. 
Every  individual  has  a  right  to  lend  to  the  body  politic  the 
special  individuality  which  belongs  to  him,  and  as  woman  differs 

23 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

from  man,  her  influence  is  needed  and  must  eventually  come.'* 

Enthusiastic  applause  followed  this  able  and  excellent 
address. 

Judge  Ashman  in  succeeding  her  said:  "I  cannot  make  a 
speech  to  prove  that  two  and  two  make  four.  It  is  like  trying 
to  prove  a  proposition  that  is  already  proven  to  attempt  to  answer 
the  question  that  is  before  us.  Now,  Miss  Kemp  has  done  this 
and  beautified  it.  She  has  proven  that  the  woman's  brain  can 
be  increased  in  size  and  weight,  and  this  puts  the  scientist's 
investigation  all  to  naught.  You  all  remember  the  German 
fellow  who  proved  that  a  woman's  brain  was  so  many  drachms 
too  light  in  weight  to  exercise  the  franchise,  and  then  died. 
His  brother  professors  weighed  his  own  and  found  it  lighter  than 
that  of  the  average  woman." 

If  the  weight  of  the  brain  and  its  texture  is  any  proof  of 
intellectual  ability,  that  of  Marie  Kemp  must  have  been  far 
above  the  average.  Her  power  of  description  was  marvelous 
and  her  incisiveness  of  conception  and  utterance  markedly 
strong.  Historic  allusions  illuminated  every  subject  upon  which 
she  was  called  to  speak,  and  her  epigrammatic  sentences  were 
couched  in  language  of  classical  purity. 

The  Entertainment  Committee  of  the  New  Century  Club  of 
Wilmington,  Delaware,  announced  for  the  club  year  of  1894-95 
among  other  celebrities,  a  positive  engagement  of  Miss  Marie 
Antoinette  Kemp  to  deliver  four  lectures  on  the  "Philosophy 
of  Faust."  They  comprised:  "Faust,  the  Poem;"  "Faust,  the 
Man;"  "The  Redemption;"  "Faust,  a  Reflection  of  Goethe's 
Spiritual  Nature." 

During  these  lectures,  which  extended  from  October  17th 
to  November  7th,  the  Library  Hall  was  crowded  with  eager, 
intelligent  women  who  came  from  Media,  West  Chester  and 
other  points  to  hear  them  from  one  who  was  considered  an 
authority  upon  the  German  language  and  the  products  of  its 
authors. 

Tributes  of  admiration  flowed  in  from  many  responsive 
souls,  two  of  which  are  selected  and  given  by  way  of  illustra- 
tion. 

24 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

A  TRIBUTE. 

As  felt  the  poet,  Keats,  when  first  he  looked 

Into  the  living  pages  of  a  book 

And  there  beheld  the  Master's  thoughts  of  old 

Given  new  life  by  one  of  later  time, 

And  as  he  sang  the  praise  of  Chapman's  Homer 

So,  also,  I  would  sing  the  praise  of  her 

Who  has  for  me  made  Goethe's  Faust  reality. 

I  saw  the  poet  in  his  noblest  mood; 

The  man  in  the  blest  light  of  charity, 

The  woman's  touch  has  made  him  more  divine; 

Her  thought  hath  added  luster  to  his  own. 

O  happy  poet,  to  have  found  in  her 

So  kind  and  gentle  an  interpreter! 

Erst  had  I  worshipped  had  I  only  found 

The  shrine  that  since  had  been  revealed  to  me. 

MAZIE  P.  DERICKSON. 

Wilmington,  Del. 

DEAR  PROP.  KEMP:  Pardon  my  addressing  you,  but  I  do  feel  that  I 
ought  to  thank  you  personally  for  the  exquisite  pleasure  which  you  gave 
me  in  your  lectures  upon  Faust.  I  am  so  sorry  that  you  had  to  condense 
the  last  one.  What  little  knowledge  I  had  of  the  poet  has  been  enriched 
by  you,  as  I  had  always  looked  upon  him  as  a  man  of  very  little  principle. 
How  fortunate  pupils  are  in  having  such  a  teacher. 

Your  sincere  admirer, 

MARY  A.  CROSS. 

In  1895  Professor  Kemp  became  the  beloved  wife  of  George 
A.  Hoadley,  Professor  of  Physics  at  Swarthmore  College.  It  was 
an  event  which  elicited  the  interest  and  congratulations  of  the 
entire  college  town,  so  admirably  were  the  two  adapted  to  each 
other. 

Her  marriage,  however,  did  not  interfere  with  her  literary 
work,  for  the  following  year,  1896-97,  the  Entertainment  Com- 
mittee of  the  New  Century  Club  of  Wilmington,  Delaware, 
announced  as  an  important  feature  of  its  program  for  the  year  a 
series  of  lectures  on  Wednesday  afternoons  at  3  p.  M.,  by  Prof. 
Marie  Kemp-Hoadley  of  Swarthmore  College. 

25 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

Subject,  "The  Character  Growth  of  the  Germans  as  Reflected 
in  Their  Literature." 

The  course  consisted  of  three  divisions,  viz.:  "Childhood, 
From  the  First  Invasions  to  the  Suabin  Emperors;"  "Youth, 
From  the  Suabin  Emperors  to  Luther;"  "Manhood,  From 
Luther  to  the  Present  Time." 

As  her  auditors  were  also  students  she  recommended  for 
their  preparatory  reading:  "Scherer's  History  of  German  Liter- 
ature," "Taylor's  Studies  of  German  Literature,"  "Luther's 
Life  of  Himself"  (translated  by  Hazlitt),  "Schiller's  Wallen- 
stein,"  "Carlyle's  Essays,  Vol.  III." 

This  series  only  the  more  firmly  established  her  reputation 
for  thoroughness  in  her  chosen  profession,  while  it  stimulated 
to  research  and  close  investigation  all  who  sat  beneath  the  sound 
of  her  rich,  musical  voice.  Even  without  that  personal  magnet- 
ism which  gives  control  to  so  many  orators  and  which  she  pos- 
sessed in  an  unusual  degree  she  would  have  won  her  way  by  her 
clear-cut,  terse,  incisive  process  of  spoken  thought. 

At  the  annual  Commencement  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  Swarthmore  she  was  selected  to  deliver  an  address  upon  the 
"Moral  and  Spiritual  Influence  of  College  Life." 

The  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  her  young 
life.  It  had  drawn  together  a  large  gathering  of  the  Alumni 
and  friends  of  the  Quaker  College.  Seated  upon  the  stage  in  the 
hall  of  the  second  floor  of  the  main  building  were  members 
of  the  Board  of  Managers  and  Faculty  and  the  graduating 
class. 

The  opening  address  was  made  by  Joseph  Wharton,  President 
of  the  Board  of  Managers,  who,  after  reverting  to  the  strictly 
college  course,  viz.:  the  scientific  and  engineering  departments, 
the  astronomical  observatory,  the  gymnasium  and  the  other 
additions  to  its  efficiency  which  were  maintained,  said,  in  closing : 
"It  is  well  that  a  people  should  continue  to  show  to  the  world 
that  piety  and  rectitude  and  spiritual  growth  can  exist  without 
priests  or  creeds;  that  luxurious  living  is  not  necessary  to  happi- 
ness, nor  guile  to  reasonable  prosperity  in  business;  that  high 
intelligence  is  compatible  with  simplicity  and  inexpensiveness 

26 


MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

and  that  love  and  unity  are  practicable  amid  the  clash  and  con- 
tention of  modern  life.'* 

He  was  succeeded  by  Frank  Blair,  the  present  State  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  of  Illinois,  who  represented  the 
graduating  class  and  whose  subject  was,  "The  Unity  of  Truth." 
"The  Early  Days"  was  the  theme  of  John  D.  Hicks,  representing 
the  first  Board  of  Managers,  and  Dr.  Edward  H.  Magill,  Ex- 
President  of  the  College.  After  John  Russell  Hayes  had  recited 
an  ode  entitled,  "Swarthmore,"  Marie  A.  Kemp-Hoadley  spoke 
as  the  representative  of  the  Alumnae  of  the  College. 

She  referred  briefly  to  the  character  of  the  Alumnae  and  their 
love  for  their  Alma  Mater.  Seventy-nine  per  cent  of  Swarth- 
more's  women  graduates,  she  said,  were  teachers  or  mothers, 
and  they  were  almost  all  looking  forward  to  entrusting  their 
children  to  the  same  foster-mother  who  had  guarded  their  own 
youth.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Alumnae,  of  greater  importance  than 
scholarship  and  physical  development  was  right  moral  and 
spiritual  influence.  Mentioning  several  features  of  college  life 
that  were  well  calculated  to  develop  the  moral  strength  of  the 
student,  she  emphasized,  particularly,  the  fact  that  by  living  in 
common  with  many  of  his  fellows  a  life  of  happy  industry  and 
democratic  equality,  the  student  discovered  for  himself,  by  actual 
experiment,  the  supreme  value  of  social  solidarity. 

"The  college,"  she  said,  "does  not  give  lectures  on  faith, 
hope  and  charity,  but  the  small  college,  like  Swarthmore,  for 
instance,  arranges  a  life  based  on  faith — that  what  is  sown  in 
righteousness  is  reaped  in  joy;  based  on  hope  of  the  gradual 
unfolding  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  that  shall  bring  to  pass  the 
ultimate  putting  away  of  childishness;  based  on  love  of  whatso- 
ever things  are  lovely,  pure,  and  of  good  report,  and  then  she 
invites  the  student  to  live  this  life,  to  taste  and  see,  to  ascertain 
for  himself  the  exact  worth  of  four  years  of  regular  industry, 
aided  by  instruction  imposed  for  the  welfare  of  the  whole  as  for 
the  individual;  four  years  of  immediate  reward  for  honest  work, 
of  inevitable  condemnation  of  idleness;  four  years  of  true  dem- 
ocracy, in  which  each  is  a  component  part  of  a  great  whole  and 
attains  enviable  distinction  in  the  social  organism,  in  so  far  as  he 

27 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

serves  the  general  good.  And  the  student  does,  by  actual 
experiment — if  he  enters  at  all  into  the  true  spirit  of  the  collegiate 
body — ascertain  whether  a  life  organized  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  faith,  hope  and  charity,  be  a  good  thing  or  not. 
And  to  my  mind  the  college  teaches  no  greater  lesson." 

The  impression  of  this  talk  upon  the  student  body  was  one 
neTer  to  be  forgotten. 

In  a  letter  from  Professor  Birdsall  to  a  friend,  he  said:  "I 
had  the  extreme  pleasure  of  a  brief  talk  with  Mrs.  Hoadley, 
whose  effort  in  simplicity  and  eloquent  expression  I  thought 
worthy  of  any  college  or  university  commencement  anywhere  in 
the  land." 

To  Mrs.  Hoadley  herself  he  wrote: 

I  was  compelled  to  leave  Swarthmore  immediately  at  the  close 
of  the  exercises  of  the  day,  and  was  not  able  to  make  verbal  expression 
of  the  sense  of  personal  obligation  which  I  felt  for  thy  nobly  adequate 
presentation  of  what  is  to  me  the  element  of  greatest  transcendental 
value  in  college  life.  I  think  no  one  could  have  heard  thee  without 
speaking,  at  least,  some  measure  of  thy  feeling,  while  the  whole  pro- 
gramme was  of  such  a  high  order  that  it  needed  no  criticism. 

Thy  address  made  the  occasion  one  of  which  it  was  good  indeed  to 
take  part.  Sincerely  thy  friend, 

WM.  W.  BIRDSALL. 

The  interest  in  and  admiration  for  Mrs.  Hoadley  by  the  New 
Century  Club  of  West  Chester  never  seemed  to  wane;  accord- 
ingly, by  their  earnest  request,  she  delighted  them  with  an 
address  upon  "Foreign  and  American  Home-Making"  as  de- 
duced entirely  from  her  own  observations  and  impressions 
during  her  four  years'  residence  abroad. 

Notwithstanding  a  heavy  snowstorm  was  in  progress,  at  the 
appointed  time  every  chair  in  Library  Hall  was  filled.  Mrs. 
Hoadley  said  she  felt  that  the  longer  one  lives  in  Europe  the  more 
difficult  it  is  to  generalize  in  regard  to  the  home  life  of  Germany, 
France,  Italy  or  England.  For  several  months  she  had  been  a 
member  of  a  German  pastor's  family  near  the  borders  of  the 
North  Sea.  She  had  gone  to  this  village  that  she  might  be  where 

28 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

she  would  not  hear  one  word  of  English  spoken  and  would  be 
compelled  to  hear  and  speak  only  German.  In  her  desire  in 
this  respect  she  was  not  disappointed  and  was  much  amused  by 
overhearing  some  one  say,  "How  foreign  she  looks."  People, 
she  found,  came  to  church  from  miles  distant  to  see  her, 
and  frequently  the  congregation  would  not  disperse  until  she 
left. 

The  home  life  in  this  German  village  family  was  such  as  we 
would  consider  almost  poverty-stricken.  The  main  room  of  the 
house  opened  directly  into  the  cow  stable  for  the  purpose  of 
saving  heat.  At  first  this  surprised  her,  but  she  soon  found  that 
the  heat  from  the  cow's  body  was  precious,  even  with  the  odors 
that  accompanied  it.  The  house  was  heated  by  means  of  porce- 
lain stoves  in  which  a  few  peats  were  burned.  If  the  stove  felt 
warm  to  the  touch  the  fire  was  considered  satisfactory  and  the 
house  comfortably  heated.  She,  however,  found  some  diffi- 
culty in  existing  during  the  months  of  March  and  April.  In 
the  morning  she  would  don  a  fur-lined  ulster,  a  woolen  hood, 
felt  shoes  and  mittens,  and  in  this  costume  she  was  barely  able 
to  spend  the  day  without  really  suffering. 

The  fare  was  also  very  different  from  that  of  America.  Once 
a  week  roast  beef  was  served,  and  twice  a  week  delicious  shrimps 
formed  the  basis  of  the  meal.  On  other  days  the  remnants  of 
these  were  used  in  various  ways.  Potatoes  were  served  cold  with 
the  butter  heated  and  served  on  a  hot  plate.  Buttermilk,  black 
bread,  raw  fish  and  plenty  of  beer  and  wine  were  the  other 
staples  of  diet,  while  dried  string-beans  were  another  viand 
which  was  considered  a  great  delicacy.  Ten  dollars  a  month 
was  the  allowance  for  housekeeping  purposes.  With  all  this 
poverty  of  what  we  would  consider  the  necessities,  this  family 
was  one  of  culture  and  refinement.  The  house-mother  was  an 
authoress  of  the  old  school.  She  wrote  thrilling  romances  which 
she  sold  for  much-needed  cash.  Her  hair  was  tousled,  her 
fingers  ink-stained  and  her  cooking  what  her  husband  called 
"inspirational." 

This  pastor's  wife,  however,  was  an  exception,  as  most 
German  women  are  housekeepers  and  nothing  else,  yet  as  some 

29 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

one  says,  "A  woman  who  is  nothing  but  a  housekeeper  is  a  poor 
housekeeper." 

Americans  are  criticized  by  Europeans  as  being  too  full  of 
too  many  things,  yet,  while  this  may  be  true,  some  of  them, 
who  are  most  fully  occupied  by  many  outside  interests,  are  the 
best  housekeepers  as  well. 

On  the  contrary,  German  women  think  of  almost  nothing  but 
their  sweeping,  scrubbing  and  cooking,  and  become  wedded  to 
laborious  methods  and  narrow  ideas.  If  the  fate  of  German 
housewives  is  narrow  and  laborious,  far  more  monotonous  is 
that  of  the  woman  who  does  not  marry.  While  single  she  has 
almost  no  liberty,  and  her  whole  thought  centers  on  preparing 
her  trousseau,  which  often  embraces  sets  of  dozens  of  each 
garment. 

In  the  rearing  of  children,  also,  the  Europeans  follow  far 
different  lines  from  those  adopted  in  America.  Our  cousins 
across  the  ocean  think  that  American  children  are  most  ill- 
mannered  and  undisciplined.  They  judge,  chiefly,  from  children 
whom  they  meet  traveling  abroad,  and  who  are,  of  course,  under 
disadvantageous  circumstances.  European  children  are  not 
considered  the  center  of  the  family,  and  are  kept  much  more  in 
the  background  than  are  those  of  America.  This  results  in  the 
young  men  and  girls  being  much  more  retiring  in  their  manners. 
At  the  same  time  the  young  men  are  far  less  self-reliant,  and  will 
seldom  attempt  anything  to  which  they  have  not  been  trained. 
As  illustrating  this  fact  Mrs.  Hoadley  said  that  the  German  pastor 
and  his  family  were,  on  one  occasion,  about  to  start  to  a  nearby 
forest  on  an  excursion  when  it  was  found  that  the  driver  had 
been  tippling  and  was  in  no  condition  to  drive.  Father,  mother, 
daughter  and  grown-up  son  stood  about  gazing  helplessly  at 
the  lamblike  horse  to  the  silent  amusement  of  the  American  girl. 
"I  will  drive  you,"  she  said,  but  this  was  not  to  be  for  a  moment 
thought  of.  The  family  would  have  trusted  her,  for  they  felt 
that  an  American  girl  could  do  anything,  but  public  opinion 
would  never  have  countenanced  anything  so  strong-minded. 
They  patiently  waited,  therefore,  until  the  effects  of  their  chari- 
oteer's potations  had  worn  off  and  then  proceeded  on  their 

30 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

pleasure  trip.  But  while  much  of  the  freedom  and  careless 
happiness  of  childhood  is  lost  to  the  little  ones  in  European 
families,  Mrs.  Hoadley  felt  that  there  are  some  points  in  which 
American  families  might  well  pattern  after  them.  Within  the 
past  few  years  we  have  quite  generally  adopted  the  custom  of 
chaperoning  young  girls,  but  in  France  and  Germany  the  boys 
are  chaperoned  quite  as  closely  as  are  any  of  our  young  girls. 

In  Paris  it  is  an  unheard  of  occurrence  for  a  boy  of  good 
social  standing  to  go  to  an  entertainment  unattended.  He  is 
accompanied  to  and  from  school  by  an  older  person  and  even  in 
recreation  hours  a  party  of  boys  have  always  with  them  one  or 
more  tutors.  As  a  result  these  youths  have  most  polished  man- 
ners and  their  conversation  is  very  free  from  slang.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  first  taste  of  liberty  is  apt  to  intoxicate  them,  and 
they  rush  into  excesses  because  their  early  training  has  not 
developed  strength  of  character  or  moral  stamina.  Still,  the 
speaker  felt  that  Americans  leave  their  boys  too  much  to  their 
own  devices,  and  thought  that  if  parents  would  make  friends 
and  companions  of  their  children  there  would  be  far  less  of  regret 
in  their  later  life. 

Taking  up  the  second  part  of  her  subject  Mrs.  Hoadley 
emphasized  the  thought  that  woman's  mission  in  this  world  is 
emphatically  that  of  home-making.  A  preacher  whom  she  had 
recently  heard  dwelt  upon  the  fact  that  it  is  a  necessity  of  our 
natures  that  we  become  more  and  more  like  our  ideal,  and  she 
urged  upon  her  hearers  that  the  more  nearly  the  life  of  the  wife 
and  mother  comes,  in  self-forgetfulness  and  devotion  to  duty, 
to  that  of  Christ,  the  Divine  Model  of  Humanity,  the  more 
truly  will  she  become  a  home-maker. 

It  is  not  house  or  family  that  makes  a  home,  but  the  love  and 
mutual  care  of  the  members  for  each  other.  There  were  several 
things  that  Mrs.  Hoadley  feared  for  the  women  of  the  twentieth 
century.  In  the  first  place,  she  was  afraid  that  they  would 
attempt  too  much.  "Woman's  life  is  already  very  full,"  she 
said,  "and  every  year  seems  to  broaden  her  possible  sphere  of 
action.  The  danger  is  that  in  accepting  the  many  calls  which 
society,  philanthropy  and  the  advancement  of  her  sex  are  making 

31 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

upon  her,  she  will  be  tempted  to  forget  that  greatest,  holiest 
duty,  home-making.  While  there  are  women  physicians, 
lawyers,  editors  and  merchants  who  are  also  exemplary  wives 
and  mothers,  if  the  coming  woman  attempts  too  much  the  next 
generation  will  suffer. 

"Another  tendency  of  the  time  is  for  women  to  feel  that 
they  must  get  all  their  self-development  and  self-improvement 
from  books  and  lectures.  These,  of  course,  are  important  and 
necessary,  but  many  a  valuable  lesson  can  be  learned  from  the 
most  trivial  drudgery  of  dish-washing  and  dusting. 

"A  French  reformer  has  written  at  length  upon  the  theory 
that  the  national  educational  system  should  be  based  not  upon 
mathematics  and  philosophy  but  upon  the  science  of  happiness. 
Children  should  be  taught  first  and  last  that  virtue  brings 
happiness  and  that  vice  destroys  it.  While  the  speaker  does  not 
feel  prepared  to  express  an  opinion  in  regard  to  this  theory,  yet 
she  felt  that  even  a  little  child  may  be  helped  to  find  that  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  him,  and  by  finding  that  naughti- 
ness brings  unhappiness  may  be  helped  to  reach  the  idea  that 
it  is  better  to  be  good. 

"In  regard  to  the  enfranchisement  of  women  the  lady  felt 
that  a  restricted  ballot  in  which  the  votes  of  intelligent  women 
could  be  cast  with  those  of  good  men  would  benefit  the  country 
in  the  greatest  measure,  yet  she  felt  much  sympathy  with  those 
who  timidly  shrink  from  assuming  any  more  responsibility  than 
they  now  have.  That  this  participation  in  public  affairs,  how- 
ever, would  directly  act  as  an  aid  in  woman's  ability  as  a  home- 
maker,  she  felt  certain,  and  was  sure  that  were  the  political 
franchise  granted  to  women  they  would  be  found  equal  to  the  task.'* 

In  accordance  with  her  oft-expressed  theory  of  what  consti- 
tuted woman's  highest  sphere,  Mrs.  Hoadley's  home  life  became 
a  splendid  exemplification.  In  it  neatness,  order,  elegance, 
simplicity  and  hospitality  became  prominent  factors  in  making 
it  an  ideal  one. 

In  1900  Mrs.  Kemp  removed  to  it  from  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and 
her  identification  with  the  social  life  of  Swarthmore  gave  to  its 
popularity  an  added  charm. 

32 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

Among  her  main  "enthusiasms"  was  the  Universal  Peace 
Union  of  which  she  was  one  of  the  vice-presidents  and  from 
which  she  was  appointed  as  a  delegate  to  the  International 
Peace  Convention  in  Belgium.  By  special  invitation  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Swarthmore  the  following  address,  fully  embody- 
ing her  sentiments,  was  delivered  before  that  body: 

"The  theme  of  my  address  is  'Peace  by  Arbitration,'  a  subject 
to  be  deeply,  earnestly  and  intelligently  considered  and  one  too 
long  unheeded  by  the  majority.  Yet  we  are  not  without  hope, 
for  it  seems  as  though  there  has  come  a  general  awakening 
throughout  the  world  as  to  the  evils  and  brutalities  of  war, 
which  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  divine  command,  'Thou 
shalt  not  kill.'  We  are  greatly  cheered  by  the  signs  of  the  times, 
and  from  many  sources,  particularly  from  our  President  Roose- 
velt. 

"He  thinks  the  time  has  come  when  differences  between 
nations,  as  between  individuals,  should  no  longer  be  settled  by 
the  strong,  physical  arm,  or  by  sword  or  cannon,  but  by  the  power 
of  righteousness  and  the  courts  of  justice. 

"It  is  but  a  few  months  since  our  President  began  the  work 
of  mediation  between  the  warring  nations  of  Japan  and  Russia, 
and  disregarding  all  diplomatic  precedents,  he  persisted  in  his 
efforts  until  the  nations  agreed  to  bring  the  slaughter  of  men 
to  an  end.  This  is  the  crowning  triumph  of  the  presidential 
career  and  the  greatest  achievement  of  the  United  States  in 
international  affairs. 

"When  these  words,  'It  is  Peace,'  were  flashed  around  the 
world,  all  civilization  rejoiced  at  the  magnanimity  of  Japan  in 
conceding  to  Russia  her  just  claims  and  the  reimbursement  of 
her  war  expenses,  and  one-half  of  the  island  of  Saghalien  already 
in  her  possession.  This  act  completes  a  record  of  wisdom, 
courage  and  common  sense  rarely  ever  before  equaled  in  the 
annals  of  history.  It  is  said  that  'he  that  ruleth  himself  is  greater 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city' — then  Japan  has  surpassed  her 
achievements  on  land  and  sea  by  her  act  of  far-sighted  states- 
manship and  recognition  of  future  international  interests.  Let 
us  hope  that  this  splendid  example  of  national  virtues  may  put 

33 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

an  end  to  the  era  of  piracy  and  shedding  of  blood.  All  honor 
to  Roosevelt  and  'blessed  are  the  peacemakers.' 

"And  now  there  seems  to  be  a  depth  of  spirituality  in  our 
midst  which  brings  us  in  touch  with  those  of  like  feeling.  So 
let  us  be  in  earnest. 

"Oh,  that  we  may  have  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  discern- 
ment of  the  divine  methods  of  the  true  and  higher  life!  This 
would  be,  in  some  degree,  the  measure  of  our  progress  and 
happiness.  So  let  us  not  be  content  with  our  present  condition. 
Contentment  means  inaction.  All  great  achievements  spring 
from  life's  unrest,  so  let  us  prize  our  present  privileges  and  work 
for  the  uplifting  of  humanity  and  the  doing  away  with  barbarous 
practices.  Do  we  perceive  the  immeasurable  superiority  of 
arbitration  to  all  other  methods  of  settling  disputes  ? 

"Think  of  the  good  work  done  at  The  Hague  where  they 
have  erected  a  standard !  They  have  shown  a  righteous  way  if 
we  but  sustain  them. 

"This  will  be  our  deliverance  from  the  murderous  war  spirit. 
Great  men  are  they  who  see  that  spiritual  power  is  stronger  than 
material  force.  This  is  an  age  when  intellect  should  take  the 
place  of  the  sword.  The  thinker,  not  the  fighter,  should  be  the 
hero  of  the  day.  We  now  call  men  great  who  arbitrate  and  keep 
war's  hounds  at  bay.  So  let  us  all  work  and  pray  that  all  inter- 
national differences  may  be  determined  by  the  scales  of  justice, 
and  not  by  the  heaviest  battalions. 

"Remember,  too,  that  territorial  expansion  by  force  of 
arms  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of  righteous  government,  so  let 
us  encourage  the  world's  court  of  arbitration  and  join  hands 
with  those  who  are  awakened  to  the  higher  methods. 

"The  vast  body  of  the  world's  people  are  just  awakening  to 
their  possibilities  and  their  duties.  We  do  not  want  that  wars 
shall  continue  and  armaments  increase,  nor  the  wealth  of  nations 
used  for  the  destruction  of  humanity,  so  let  us  keep  our  atmos- 
phere magnetic  with  love  and  faith,  for  this  is  the  only  atmosphere 
into  which  spiritual  force  can  enter  and  assert  its  power. 

"War  is  an  evil  to  the  whole  human  race.  It  checks  culture, 
morality,  economy  and  growth  in  the  divine  life.  Nearly  every 

34 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

nation  has  its  standing  army  and  spends  its  millions  in  shot  and 
shell,  and  military  implements,  blighting  homes,  saddening 
hearts  and  murdering  human  beings.  But,  friends,  we  have 
reason  to  rejoice  that  there  are  other  armies  in  the  field — one  of 
women  who  number  over  half  a  million,  who  discard  all  these 
murderous  methods  and  material. 

"They  have  added  to  their  thirty  odd  departments  of  work 
that  of  Peace  by  Arbitration.  Their  rallying  ground  is  around 
a  throne  of  grace,  their  armor  is  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  a  divine 
enthusiasm.  Their  aim  is  not  to  destroy  life  but  to  save  it. 
They  need  no  shot  nor  shell,  no  sword  nor  cannon.  No,  no,  my 
friends,  the  elements  they  use  are  of  greater  power.  The 
difference  between  spirit  and  matter  is  beyond  what  words  can 
express,  as  love  is  greater  than  hate. 

"From  love  comes  life,  from  hate  comes  death.  Love  is  the 
redeeming  element,  the  divine  element  which  we  seek  to  manifest 
toward  those  who  have  wandered  far  from  the  tender  shepherd's 
care  or  never  knew  how  sweet  it  is  to  be  with  God.  To  bring 
these  into  the  fold  of  righteousness,  justice,  mercy  and  love,  to 
have  them  born  of  the  true,  godly  spirit  is  our  desire.  Men 
boast  of  their  victories,  and  the  number  of  fathers,  husbands, 
brothers  and  sons  they  have  mowed  down.  The  W.  C.  T.  U. 
rejoice  over  the  wrecks  they  can  recover,  reform  and  restore  to 
their  manhood.  We  would  not  rob  the  world  of  God's  crea- 
tion. 

"We  have  been  shown  by  those  who  have  been  divinely  inspired 
how  that  peace  may  be  obtained  which  passeth  understanding, 
then  let  us  not  be  satisfied  with  our  present  wars. 

"We  rejoice  over  the  inspiration  that  came  to  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  Baroness  Von  Suttner,  whose 
remarkable  book,  'Lay  Down  Your  Arms,'  has  had  such  a 
wonderful  mission.  It  has  awakened,  aroused  and  enthused 
earnest  souls  who  have  been  longing  for  a  way  of  deliverance 
from  the  curse  of  war. 

"Highly  gifted  and  conscientious,  with  talent,  culture  and 
means,  combined  with  a  strong  will  and  much  energy,  the 
author's  heart-rending  experiences,  as  recorded  in  that  much- 

35 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

read  book,  assisted  in  bringing  forth  the  Peace  Conference  at 
The  Hague,  one  of  the  greatest  historic  assemblages  in  the  world. 

"In  the  language  of  Ex-President  Andrew  D.  White  of 
Cornell  University,  who  was  our  Ambassador  to  Germany,  our 
Minister  to  St.  Petersburg,  also  President  of  our  American 
Delegation  at  The  Hague,  'Remember  what  one  woman  did  in 
leading  up  to  this  event  in  the  history  of  the  Nation.'  It  is 
pleasant  to  note  that  it  was  a  person  debarred  by  her  sex  from 
the  privilege  of  sitting  in  councils  of  war  or  peace — Baroness 
Von  Suttner,  who  so  tenderly  and  ingenuously  gleaned  from  the 
theme  of  peace,  who  so  strongly  and  beautifully  wove  the  truth 
of  her  heart's  yearning  into  expression,  so  as  to  appeal  to  all  the 
nobler  instincts  of  humanity.  The  song  of  her  inspiration  was 
heard  by  the  Czar;  his  heart  was  touched,  resulting  in  the  meeting 
at  The  Hague.  Another  gem  was  added  to  the  crown  of  this 
hopeful  event — Wilhelmina,  Queen  of  Holland,  offered  one  of 
her  palaces  for  their  meeting,  and  in  every  way  manifested  the 
greatest  and  deepest  interest  in  its  proceedings.  This  was  the 
first  council  that  ever  came  together  for  the  purpose  of  accom- 
plishing the  destruction  of  the  curse  of  war,  and  it  has  created 
a  permanent  tribunal  of  arbitration  under  the  auspices  of  many 
powers. 

"All  through  the  journey  of  life  women  have  come  forth  as 
they  became  awakened  to  the  needs  of  the  hour,  and  the  cry, 
'Lord,  what  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  to  aid  in  delivering 
humanity  from  the  ills  which  beset  it  ?'  is  heard.  We  must  feel 
for  each  other's  woes;  each  other's  burdens  bear.  The  words  of 
Holy  Writ  are,  'Thou  shalt  not  kill.'  'Vengeance  is  mine;  I  will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord.'  'They  that  use  the  sword  shall  perish 
by  the  sword,'  and  yet  we  expend  more  for  destructive  purposes 
than  for  all  else.  War,  alcoholic  drinks  and  tobacco  are  our 
worst  enemies. 

"What  are  we,  as  women,  doing  to  stay  these  tides  of  misery  ? 
It  has  been  suggested  that  as  women  mould  temperament  from 
the  dawn  of  childhood  life,  they,  more  than  all  others,  determine 
the  proclivities  of  boyhood,  and  that  women  must  organize  for 
peace  ere  the  nations  will  learn  to  war  no  more;  also,  that  war 

36 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

will  be  put  away  in  exact  mathematical  proportion  to  the  degree 
of  influence  that  women  attain  in  government.  War  is  placing 
force  against  reason.  Soldiers  consume  the  substance  of  the 
people,  and  what  do  they  return  ?  If  the  millions,  yes,  the  bil- 
lions, were  used  in  redeeming  influences,  what  might  we  not 
hope  for  ?  We  know  that  it  is  the  fulfilling  of  God's  laws  that 
brings  peace.  And  what  is  peace?  It  is  to  conquer  love  of 
self  and  lust  of  life;  to  tear  deep-rooted  passion  from  the  breast; 
to  still  the  inward  strife  which  comes  from  mutual  misun- 
derstanding and  prejudice,  as  unity  results  from  a  discovery  of 
basic  truth.  When  we  settle  differences  by  arbitration,  nations 
will  not  have  to  spend  their  millions  in  erecting  forts,  building 
battleships,  maintaining  standing  armies,  conducting  wars  and 
other  institutions  of  a  military  character. 

"Ere  this  can  be  accomplished  mothers  must  cease  purchas- 
ing military  toys,  such  as  guns,  swords  and  toy  cannons,  for  their 
children,  which  by  their  use  incite  in  them  the  military  spirit. 
They  must  be  lifted  out  of  the  combative  spirit  and  taught  to 
rise  above  the  lower  animal  nature. 

"Yet,  friends,  beyond  all  the  miseries  of  war  we  have  much 
to  rejoice  over.  God  is  still  speaking  to  the  present  generation 
as  He  did  to  the  Huldahs,  the  Miriams,  the  Deborahs  and  to 
Mary;  just  as  He  has  been  doing  to  the  Frances  Willards,  the 
Lady  Somersets,  the  Clara  Bartons  and  other  good  women  who 
have  progressed  in  the  divine  life.  Their  spiritual  supremacy 
was  obtained  through  their  personal  virtues.  This  growth  is 
accessible  to  all  who  will  search  for  the  requisite  knowledge. 
These  women  have  been  listening.  Then  aspiration  fitted  them 
for  inspirations.  Some  one  has  said,  'The  hand  that  rocks  the 
cradle  rules  the  world,'  and  an  ancient  Roman  warrior  bestowed 
a  flattering  compliment  upon  the  homes  of  Roman  mothers  when 
he  said,  'The  empire  is  at  the  fireside.' 

"Now  this,  the  twentieth  century,  is  radiant  with  the  spirit 
of  the  time;  with  achievement  for  the  happiness  and  well  being 
of  the  race.  What  may  we  not  hope  for  ?  Progression,  when  in 
harmony  with  science,  can  no  longer  be  repressed. 

"Our  beloved  leader,  Frances  Willard,  was  not  an  advocate 

37 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

of  shot  and  shell  nor  the  cutting  of  throats  and  blowing  out  of 
brains  in  order  to  settle  difficulties  between  nations.  She 
accepted  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  'Thou  shalt  not  kill/  'Love 
your  enemies.'  She  said,  Tut  your  wealth  in  your  arteries, 
store  it  away  in  your  brain  cells  and  in  the  heart  fibers  of  your 
children.'  She  looked  beyond  the  present.  She  listened  to 
and  heard  the  voice  within.  God  spoke  to  her  as  He  did  to 
Moses,  by  the  inner  voice.  Stately  were  the  steps  of  her  ascent, 
and  as  her  spirit  took  its  flight,  she  said,  'How  sweet  it  is  to  be 
with  God.'  Miss  Willard  constantly  and  unceasingly  held 
herself  in  receptivity  of  relation  to  the  spiritual  world.  She 
was  in  touch  and  in  constant  communion  with  it.  Greater  power 
to  aid  and  guide  than  the  Holy  Spirit  there  is  none.  O  friends ! 
When  shall  we  get  more  deeply  in  earnest  to  provoke  each  other 
in  the  spirit  of  Christian  love;  to  make  some  sacrifices  ?  Let  us 
do  away  with  non-essentials  and  commence  ascending  in  the 
scale  of  being  by  close  living,  deep  thinking  and  praying  without 
ceasing. 

"The  spontaneous,  united  effort  of  waging  war  against  the 
drink  traffic  with  purely  spiritual  weapons  was  known  as  the 
woman's  crusade.  How  comforting  it  is  to  remember  that 
spiritual  supremacy  is  obtained  through  our  personal  virtues. 
We  not  only  need  to  discharge  our  duty  to  the  extent  of  our 
abilities,  but  we  should  ever  seek  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
We  all  need  to  be  spiritually  unfolded,  to  have  the  divine  up- 
lifting and  sustaining  power.  When  shall  we  take  pleasure 
in  working  for  the  realization  of  the  ideal  in  humanity  and  the 
doing  away  with  wars  ?" 

This  address,  given  as  reported,  closed  with  a  peroration 
which  held  the  hearers  spellbound  and  was  immediately  asked 
for  publication. 

When  on  the  platform  Mrs.  Kemp  made  no  attempt  at 
oratory.  Her  thoughts  flowed  so  rapidly  that,  at  times,  her 
sentences  became  involved,  but  her  simplicity  of  manner  added 
to  her  undoubted  sincerity  of  earnestness  never  failed  to  deeply 
impress  her  auditors  and  to  render  her  much  in  demand  at 
conventions  and  other  public  meetings. 

38 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

November  4,  1903,  was  her  eightieth  birthday,  and  it  found 
her  so  young  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  appearance  that  it  was  a 
subject  of  universal  comment  among  her  many  friends.  No 
girl  of  eighteen  was  more  blest  with  the  rushing  tide  of  joyousness 
than  this  woman  of  eighty.  To  an  intimate  friend  she  wrote: 
"I  feel  as  though  I  had  just  begun  to  live.  Life  is  so  beautiful 
and  my  Heavenly  Father  is  so  good  to  me  and  seems  so  near. 
Heaven  and  earth  interpenetrate  and  enfold  each  other,  and  my 
body  is  simply  the  sheath  for  my  exultant,  happy  spirit." 

A  frequent  contributor  to  the  columns  of  the  Harrisburg, 
Pa.,  Patriot,  a  letter  sent  her  at  this  time,  published  in  it,  bears 
quoting : 

SWAHTHMORE,  PA.,  12:11:03. 

To  THE  HON.  B.  F.  MEYERS:  I  have  received  over  forty  letters  of 
congratulation  upon  arriving  at  my  80th  birthday — one  of  which  I  have 
given  to  the  public — and  now  a  second  comes  from  one  whom  I  have 
never  seen,  but  the  perusal  of  which  I  think  will  advance  our  suffrage 
interests.  It  reads  thus: 

BRISTOL,  PA. 

"Mr  DEAR  MRS.  KEMP:  When  I  saw  your  name  fa  last  week's  issue 
of  the  Woman's  Journal  and  read  your  pleasant  letter  as  well  as  Mrs. 
Eyster's  beautiful  and  deserved  tribute  to  your  work  and  well  doing, 
ruminating  upon  the  pleasant  fact  that  you  have  happily  and  serenely 
clambered  up  the  hill  of  life  to  the  eightieth  milestone,  I  was  led  to 
indulge  in  a  session  of  sweet,  silent  thought  and  to  recall  old  times  when 
you  so  worthily  did  your  part  in  the  initial  days  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Woman's  Suffrage  Association. 

"I  was  further  led  to  rummage  among  the  mass  of  old  letters  that  I 
received  while  Chairman  of  its  Executive  Committee,  with  the  view  of 
finding  the  first  letter  received  from  you.  It  now  lies  before  me,  and  I 
have  just  read  it  with  deep  interest  and  cheerful  recollections.  I  well 
remember  always  thinking  that  you  were  very  generous,  willingly  aiding 
with  open  hand  our  early  efforts,  and  at  a  time  when  the  movement  for 
woman  suffrage  was  more  hampered  than  now  by  the  hostile  frowns 
of  an  unfriendly  world. 

"That  first  letter,  similar  in  spirit,  in  sympathy  and  in  earnestness 
with  those  which  followed,  is  dated  January  17,  1870,  less  than  a  month 
after  the  birth  of  the  association. 

"It  was  in  answer  to  one  from  me,  written  four  days  earlier.    After 

39 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

telling  what  you  had  done  in  York  County,  near  your  own  home,  to 
create  an  interest  in  woman  suffrage  and  help  promote  the  object  of  the 
new  association,  you  modestly  said,  'I  enclose  you  a  check  for  ten  dollars, 
my  contribution  to  the  cause.'  Such  a  sum  at  such  a  time  for  such  a 
purpose  seemed  to  be,  as  it  was,  an  evidence  of  rare  generosity,  for 
money  came  grudgingly  and  seldom  with  alacrity. 

"Our  funds  were  often  painfully  low  and  frequently  vexed  with  a 
touch  of  famine,  so  that  a  donation  of  ten  dollars  was  like  a  'Triton 
among  the  minnows.'  In  that  letter  you  farther  said,  'It  shall  be  my 
pleasure  to  aid  you,  as  I  work  from  a  sense  of  duty.  Trusting  all  your 
labors  in  the  cause  of  justice  may  be  compensated  with  success,  I  remain 
yours  in  the  service  of  humanity.' 

"Good  and  noble  words!  What  wonderful  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  path  of  progress  since  that  letter  was  written.  Their  record 
would  fill  volumes.  The  movement  for  impartial  suffrage  does  not 
halt.  It  goes  steadily  onward,  carried  forward  by  women  with  brave 
hearts,  willing  hands,  cultured  brains  and  wise  discrimination,  and 
onward  it  will  continue  to  go,  victory  following  victory,  till  the  day  of 
final  triumph. 

"Accept  my  good-will  and  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness. 

"Sincerely  yours, 

"I.  K.  WILDMAN." 

A  year  later  the  following  tribute  in  verse  came  from  a  friend : 

Dear  Mrs.  Kemp,  when  you  look  back 

On  all  the  fleeting  years 
That  stretch  behind  with  share  of  hopes, 

And  joys,  and  griefs,  and  tears, 
You  will  agree  when  all  is  done 

You  happiest  are  at  eighty-one. 

And  oh!  dear  friend,  whose  busy  life 
Has  been  filled  through  and  through 

With  changeful  care  and  earnest  work 
For  those  less  blest  than  you, 

Oh!  tell  what  charm  it  is  you've  won, 
To  be  so  young  at  eighty-one. 

JANE  CAMPBELL. 

The  secret  of  her  elasticity  of  temperament  she  revealed 
in  the  following  address  called  by  her  "Elixir  Vitae,"  which  was 

40 


MARIE  ANTOINETTE  HOADLEY  AND  SON  ANTHONY 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

delivered  about  this  period  to  a  large  audience  of  devoted  friends 
and  admirers: 

"FRIENDS:  My  present  discourse  is  the  result  of  contem- 
plation, of  thought — that  greatest  of  gifts — of  travel,  of  study, 
including  work  during  four-score  years  of  my  life  journey. 
Each  year  has  been  growing  brighter  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  truth  gained  relative  to  living  a  true,  physical,  moral,  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  life,  and  practically  praying  to  attain  that 
state  which  will  enable  us  to  live  in  harmony  with  the  divine 
command,  'Be  ye  perfect.' 

"In  order  to  attain  that  perfection  it  is  essential  that  we 
search  the  Scriptures,  for  in  them  we  find  the  truths  pertaining 
to  eternal  life.  This  study  includes  that  of  nature,  science, 
literature  and  religion,  bringing  into  exercise  all  our  God-given 
faculties,  thus  enabling  us  to  realize  the  truth  of  the  poetic 
expressions, 

"Age  is  only  youth  full  blown — 
A  ripened,  more  transcendent  youth. 

"  'Tis  the  sunset  of  life  gives  us  mystical  lore 
As  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before. 

"The  laws  of  the  universe  are  unchangeable,  the  same  yes- 
terday, today,  and  forever.  They  existed  before  we  had  a 
Christ  or  Bible.  It  is  our  duty  to  learn  concerning  these  laws, 
all  relating  to  the  perfection  of  our  being,  and  this  is  the  theme 
of  my  discourse. 

"I  ask  the  question,  What  is  life  ?  And  who  can  solve  the 
problem  ?  We  have  learned  that  for  every  manifestation  of  life 
something  must  die.  Every  breath  we  draw  kills  thirty  millions 
of  blood  cells.  We  live  by  the  death  of  atoms,  the  projecting 
of  a  plan;  the  birth  of  a  thought;  the  committal  of  a  deed:  each 
involves  the  death  of  something.  We  are  constantly  throwing 
off  and  taking  on.  When  this  reciprocity  ceases  we  shuffle  off 
the  mortal  coil. 

"If  we  would  ascend  in  the  scale  of  being  we  must  live  in 
harmony  with  divine  law;  we  must  partake  of  the  Elixir  Vitce 

41 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

and  drink  that  we  may  live  forever.  We  must  become  acquainted 
with  the  requisite  elements  that  develop  our  individuality; 
we  must  become  integral  and  not  fractional;  the  tendency  to 
individuality  is  to  vigor,  therefore,  to  duration  of  life.  Person- 
ality is  power.  Behind  every  great  success  is  an  individual 
who  is  an  integer.  The  majority  of  us  are  yet  fractional,  too 
ready  to  run  with  the  crowd,  and  now,  in  order  to  discern  clearly, 
a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  our  being  are  requisite. 

"The  most  important  part  of  life  is  to  know  how  to  live: 
to  nourish  mind,  soul,  and  body,  for  we  must  remember  that 
lack  of  knowledge  lies  at  the  root  of  physical,  intellectual  and 
spiritual  degeneracy. 

"Knowledge  is  the  fulcrum,  intelligence  the  lever,  and 
courage  the  power  that  moves  the  world.  The  highest  service 
which  can  be  rendered  to  any  person  or  class  is  emancipation 
from  ignorance  and  from  unfavorable  conditions.  We  are  all 
playing  our  parts  in  the  great  drama  of  life  and  every  step  taken 
should  be  in  accordance  with  divine  law.  When  our  thoughts 
soar  heavenward  every  step  of  truth  is  uplifting.  Each  truth 
gained  and  made  our  own,  practically,  is  a  jewel  to  be  treasured, 
is  a  step  gained  heavenward. 

"In  this  evolutionary  period,  which  is  so  grandly  uplifting 
humanity  to  higher  levels  and  giving  us  a  wider  range  of  vision, 
what  have  we  not  to  hope  for  ?  Our  powers  being  improvable, 
our  capacities  being  expansive,  let  us  become  individualized,  not 
influenced  by  the  crowd,  but  strive  to  develop  all  our  God-given 
faculties,  to  unfold  from  within  and  thus  perceive  the  way  of 
righteousness,  justice,  mercy  and  love. 

"Study,  art,  science,  literature,  nature  and  religion:  these 
are  the  heavenly  highways  that  lead  to  holiness. 

"We  build  the  steps  by  which  we  rise 

From  the  lowly  earth  to  the  vaulted  skies. 

"Each  ascent  gives  us  a  wider  range,  a  loftier  view,  a  higher 
outlook,  and  enables  us  to  preserve  the  happy,  joyous  love  of 
life  which  is  one  of  the  elements  of  life.  It  is  life,  one  of  the 
proximate  principles  of  our  existence. 

42 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

"How  eagerly  the  fountain  of  youth  has  been  sought  for  by 
philosophers  and  astrologists,  they  little  dreaming  it  was  close 
at  hand  and  yet  seen  only  by  the  few  who  worked  with  every 
faculty  of  mind,  body  and  soul. 

"This  activity  must  be  guarded  intelligently  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  plan,  comprehending  fully  that  inactivity  is 
death.  Our  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  we  must  work.  The 
subtle  forces  in  nature  can  accomplish  more  in  minutes  than 
their  equivalent  in  months  and  years.  Judgment,  discretion 
and  wisdom  must  be  constantly  on  the  qui  vive,  remembering 
that  overwork  dwarfs  both  body  and  soul,  but  cultivated,  habitual 
activity  carries  within  itself  perennial  satisfaction  and  the  assured 
renewal  of  every  power  brought  into  exercise. 

"And  now,  dear  friends,  I  come  to  you  in  the  eighty-fourth 
year  of  my  youth,  full  of  hope.  Winter  may  be  on  my  head  but 
eternal  youth  and  its  spring  is  in  my  heart.  You  have  read  of 
the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth.  Have  you  found  it  ?  You  have 
heard  of  the  streams  of  living  waters.  Have  you  tasted  thereof  ? 
This  fountain  and  these  streams  are  forever  flowing  and  have 
been  since  the  creation  and  ever  will  be  so  far  as  we  know. 
Many  are  spiritually,  physically  and  intellectually  blind;  they 
cannot  'interpret  atmospheres  or  be  in  holy  vision  tranced;' 
cannot  hear  the  melodies  which  are  ever  attuned  to  the  listening 
ear.  To  enjoy  these  privileges  we  must  ever  be  alive  to  their 
existence,  'flying  swifter  as  we  near  the  sun,'  'keeping  our  locks 
wet  with  morning  dew  and  freely  let  our  graces  grow.' 

"  For  life,  well  spent,  is  ever  new, 
And  years,   anointed,  younger  grow. 

"The  elixir  of  life  is  the  concentration  of  the  will  exercised 
in  an  almost  superhuman  degree.  Life  is  matter  in  motion, 
and  when  wisdom  is  sought,  and  knowledge  is  gained,  and 
God's  laws  are  obeyed  and  we  aspire  to  the  highest  life  attain- 
able, our  aspirations  lead  to  inspiration.  From  this  three-fold 
conjunction  we  preserve  our  youthful  feelings,  not  lessening 
the  number  of  our  years — for  this  we  cannot  do — but  by  exer- 
cising all  our  God-given  faculties  and  dropping  all  non-essen- 

43 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

tials.  We  do  not  become  exhausted  but  strengthened  by  the 
requisite  activity;  we  increase  our  ability  to  ascend  in  the  scale 
of  being  remembering  that  truth  leads  to  duty.  Let  us  keep  our 
bodies  young  in  expression.  It  is  better  to  be  seventy  years 
young  than  thirty  years  old. 

"The  phrase,  'You  are  just  too  old,'  means  that  you  are  not 
teachable,  not  receptive.  Many  people  believe  they  are  too 
old  to  learn  anything.  These  must  be  awakened  to  perceive 
that  if  they  ask  they  shall  receive,  and  this  is  work  to  do — to 
awaken  others  to  come  up  higher,  to  be  delivered  from  their 
vain  delusions.  We  are  not  too  old  to  put  the  mind  in  tune  or 
neglect  it  and  the  imagination.  Lofty  imaginations  receive 
wings  which  carry  us  upward.  The  truths  of  art,  science  and 
religion  are  the  wings  upon  which  we  soar  out  of  ignorance  into 
knowledge,  out  of  darkness  into  light,  out  of  slavery  into  freedom, 
out  of  conservatism  into  progression. 

"How  shall  we  preserve  youth  ?  By  living  perfect  lives 
which  keep  us  from  feeling  old  and  worn  out.  The  impress  of 
our  feelings  and  principles  is  seen  upon  our  faces  and  figures. 
We  paint  our  own  pictures,  and  as  we  journey  through  life  they 
are  on  exhibition,  read  by  those  we  meet  according  to  their 
attainments. 

"Those  who  give  a  lifetime  to  study,  to  know  what  is  needed 
to  fulfil  the  laws  regulating  our  being  and  what  are  the  non- 
essentials  to  be  discarded  never  feel  old.  They  daily  rejuvenate 
and  feast  upon  the  truths  which  elevate,  refine  and  enlighten. 
They  are  jealous  of  admitting  aught  of  a  pessimistic  nature. 

"Charles  Kingsley  says,  'We  become  like  God  when  we 
become  of  use.'  Every  glimpse  of  Heaven's  life  is  one  of  help- 
fulness and  usefulness.  To  feel  young  we  must  continually 
feed  upon  new  thought.  The  body  needs  constant  supplies  of 
fresh  air  and  nutriment;  the  mind,  also,  has  its  needs.  It  is  no 
less  exacting.  A  change  of  activities,  scenes  and  location  is 
one  of  the  elect  ways  of  prolonging  life.  Age  is  a  matter  of  feeling, 
not  of  years.  Mr.  W.  G.  Lewis  of  Philadelphia  says,  'The  dura- 
tion of  human  life  depends  neither  on  climate,  nor  food,  nor 
race,  nor  any  external  condition,  but  has  relation  simply  to  the 

44 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

natural  constitution  and  intrinsic  vigor  of  our  organs.'  He  says 
one  hundred  years  is  the  natural  life  of  man.  This  is  far  short 
of  the  age  of  Methuselah.  This  curtailment  below  the  normal 
term  is  the  result  of  those  errors  and  excesses  in  the  manner  of 
living  which  impairs  the  organs  and  produces  premature  decay. 
He  holds  up  Thomas  Parr  as  living  a  true  physical  life,  being 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  years  of  age. 

"The  words  of  Holy  Writ  are,  'My  people  are  destroyed  for 
lack  of  knowledge.  Because  thou  hast  rejected  knowledge  I 
will  also  reject  thee.'  Ignorance  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  brevity 
of  life.  We  mean  that  pernicious  ignorance  which  knows  in  a  gen- 
eral way  without  acting  upon  the  knowledge  in  a  particular  sense. 

"Dr.  Henry  D.  Bellows  says,  'This  is  the  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  man  has  in  him  a  secret,  sure  and  direct  access  to 
God's  spirit.'  This  is  what  Jesus  knew  to  be  in  man,  and  in 
having  this  he  knew  man  to  be  capable  of  building  up  the  king- 
dom of  righteousness  in  himself,  in  his  race,  and  in  the  civili- 
zation of  the  future.  This  is  what  alone  makes  faith,  hope  and 
charity  possible.  Who  has  found  out  the  limits  of  humanity  ? 
What  experience,  what  study  of  past  history  exhausts  its  possi- 
bilities ?  Were  Homer,  Plato,  Phidias,  Dante,  Newton  and 
Shakespeare  looked  for  or  reckoned  possible  until  they  came  ? 

"The  Elixir  Vitse!  Where  does  it  dwell  ?  is  the  study  of  the 
hour.  It  has  been  the  theme  throughout  the  ages  to  know 
where  the  Divine  dwells,  in  whom  is  the  fountain  of  perpetual 
youth,  that  inexhaustible  spring  of  newness,  beauty  and  worth. 
It  is  the  Spirit  of  God  incarnating  itself  in  human  nature  and 
character,  forbidding  us  to  doubt  that  anything  we  hope  or  long 
for  is  impossible  of  attainment. 

"My  friends,  the  command  of  Holy  Writ  is,  'Be  ye  perfect.' 
Now,  in  order  to  attain  unto  perfection  we  must  search  for  the 
essential  requisites  which  are  based  upon  physical,  moral,  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  laws. 

"This  is  the  work  of  life,  and  we  must  become  intelligent  as 
to  divine  law  and  live  in  harmony  with  it,  for  mind  accumulates 
power  by  its  own  activity,  and  learns  to  know  that  a  perception 
of  the  inexhaustible  is  an  immortal  youth. 

45 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

"What  have  we  not  to  hope  for  from  the  rapid  progress  of 
the  age?  All  the  departments  pertaining  to  a  perfect  life  are 
being  made  plain  if  we  but  seek  to  know  the  laws  which  control 
our  being.  Science  is  being  revealed  as  though  by  magic.  Its 
truths  are  the  unfolding  of  divine  law,  a  revelation  of  God's 
methods.  Through  it  we  have  bridged  the  ocean  with  ships 
and  made  lightning  to  run  our  errands.  We  have  the  practical 
knowledge  of  how  to  utilize  steam,  electricity  and  the  laws  of 
vibration  as  well  as  the  Roentgen  rays  through  which  we  can 
ascertain  the  condition  of  the  interior  of  our  bodies.  We  have 
learned  how  to  reduce  the  air  we  breathe  to  a  liquid  and  to  a 
degree  of  coldness  not  computable.  And,  now,  what  have  we 
not  reason  to  hope  for  ?  As  a  result  of  this  greater  knowledge 
we  have  gained  a  clearer  insight  into  natural  law,  have  broader 
views  of  religion  and  are  loosening  the  shackles  of  our  religious 
creeds  which  forbade  freedom  of  thought.  We  no  longer  think 
of  ourselves  as  'worms  of  the  dust/  for  we  know  that  we  have 
arisen  to  higher  levels. 

"Imagination,  that  grand  faculty  by  which  the  mind  con- 
ceives, goes  in  advance  of  efforts  and  points  the  way. 

"Mental  science  is  the  science  of  mind  unfoldment.  Imagi- 
nation, hope  and  expectation  are  mental  conditions  controlled 
by  spirit  power.  They  even  shape  the  body,  bone,  nerves  and 
muscles.  Any  momentary  exultation  is  only  an  invoice  of  the 
soul's  progress.  Destructiveness  can  easily  be  replaced  by  con- 
structiveness.  To  constantly  grow  wiser,  better  and  become  more 
enlightened  we  must  be  full  of  high  ideals;  must  absolutely 
abide  in  the  Holy  Place.  Unless  discerned  by  the  Spirit  we  are 
lost  in  a  labyrinth  of  materialism. 

"Fear,  grief,  sin,  anxiety,  pessimism,  all  that  train  pull 
down  bodily  tissue,  their  positives  build  up.  Harmony,  joy, 
optimism,  idealism,  love  and  courage  invigorate  in  like  degree. 
The  creative  power  in  thought  is  man's  and  woman's  divine 
instrument,  and  the  knowing  of  the  inexhaustible  in  nature  is 
an  immortal  youth. 

"To  grow  in  Christliness,  a  knowledge  of  the  true  life,  the 
higher  life,  is  requisite.  We  should  embrace  all  opportunities 

46 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

to  grow  wiser,  better  and  more  intelligent  by  constantly  adding 
to  our  faith,  virtue,  knowledge,  temperance,  brotherly  kindness, 
godliness  and  charity — for  if  all  these  abound  in  you  they 
make  that  you  shall  neither  be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  acquiring 
the  requisite  knowledge  to  attain  perfection. 

"They  that  lack  these  things  are  blind  and  cannot  see  afar, 
so  let  us  feel  it  to  be  our  duty  to  remind  each  other  of  the  Heaven- 
born  gifts  accessible  to  all  who  will  seek  for  them.  Holy  joy 
will  drive  out  every  fear,  and  the  more  we  learn  to  live  in  the 
serene  air  of  delightful  studies  the  longer  do  we  retain  the  fresh- 
ness and  charm  of  youth,  the  more  adaptable  do  we  become, 
the  more  capable  of  high  and  holy  companionship. 

"It  has  been  said  that  dying  a  natural  death  is  one  of  the 
lost  arts;  that  we  deny  ourselves  the  requisite  amount  of  the 
life-giving  principle,  oxygen.  The  art  of  ventilation  is  so 
imperfectly  understood  that  four-fifths  of  humanity  shorten 
their  lives  because  of  their  ignorance  of  its  nature,  and  the 
quantity  of  oxygen  needed  to  preserve  perfect  health.  They 
know  not  that  life  well  spent,  intellectually  and  spiritually,  is 
ever  new,  and  'years  anointed  younger  grow.' 

"A  right  purpose  is  curative  and  preservative.  The  only 
life  worth  living  is  that  of  infinite  aspiration.  Holy  joy  drives 
out  every  disease  and  it  is  the  elixir  of  life.  It  is  the  divinity  in 
men  and  women  which  gravitates  upward,  and  one  owns  all 
that  one  can  appropriate.  The  broader  the  education  the  nobler 
the  aspirations.  Our  powers  are  improvable,  our  capacities 
are  expansive.  When  all  are  developed  harmoniously  Heaven 
comes  down  our  souls  to  greet.  In  brief, 

"  The  tissue  of  the  life  to  be 

We  weave  with  colors  all  our  own. 
In  the  field  of  destiny 
We  reap  as  we  have  sown." 

.  Among  the  public  offices  performed  by  Mrs.  Marie  Hoadley 
was  the  presiding  at  the  organization  of  "The  Woman's  Club  of 
Swarthmore,"  held  at  the  Borough  building. 

An  informal  notice  had  been  circulated  inviting  all  mothers 

47 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

and  home-makers  interested  in  the  matter  to  be  present,  and 
about  forty  or  more  responded.  Mrs.  Hoadley  explained  that 
the  object  of  this  club  was  the  furtherance  of  the  interests  of 
home  life  and  of  the  community  at  large  in  whatever  way  woman 
affects  it. 

The  home-makers  of  all  kinds  were  expected  to  confer  as 
to  methods  and  experiences  in  improving  the  atmosphere  of  the 
home.  The  woman  of  social  or  intellectual  gifts;  the  woman  of 
scientific  tastes;  the  woman  who  read,  discriminatingly,  the 
literature  of  the  day;  the  woman  who  was  abreast  with  the 
current  of  passing  events;  the  musician;  the  woman  who  wielded 
a  graceful  pen  or  who  could  appreciatively  interpret  what  others 
had  written;  the  quiet  home  body  who  was  winning  the  battle  of 
life  with  patience  and  common  sense — all  were  expected  to  give 
as  they  had  received,  to  the  mutual  benefit  of  all.  In  brief, 
the  intention  as  outlined  by  the  gifted  speaker  was  to  quicken 
the  best  culture  of  Swarthmore  through  that  sure  medium, 
its  women. 

Alas!  The  club  was  destined  soon  to  lose  its  inspirer  and 
guide.  Marie  A.  Hoadley  died  on  February  16,  1907,  leaving 
a  little  son,  Anthony  de  Hothlegh,  only  six  years  old,  to  the 
loving  care  of  his  devoted  father  and  grandmother,  Mrs.  Kemp. 
Some  years  before  there  had  come  upon  her  an  incurable  illness 
(paralysis  agitans),  which  laid  a  burden  upon  her  almost  too 
heavy  to  bear,  and  yet  which  she  met  with  heroic  endurance 
and  unfailing  cheerfulness. 

Her  loss  to  the  community  in  the  prime  of  her  life  and  rare 
efficiency  was  generally  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  greatest. 

Said  Dr.  Isabella  Bronk  of  Swarthmore  College  in  an  address 
to  the  students:  "I  cannot  stand  here  before  you  this  morning 
without  some  allusion  to  the  beautiful  life  which  has  gone  out 
in  our  midst.  I  say,  in  our  midst,  for  although  Mrs.  Hoadley 
had  been  during  some  time  cut  off  by  physical  weakness  from 
participation  in  the  intellectual  work  and  pleasures  of  the 
college,  she  was  often,  very  often,  with  us  in  mind,  and  always 
in  spirit. 

"She  belongs  peculiarly  and  wholly  to  Swarthmore  College, 

48 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

having  graduated  with  one  of  its  earlier  classes.  She  was  an 
alumna  who,  because  of  her  intellectual  brilliancy,  would  have 
been  claimed  with  pride  by  any  college  or  university  in  the 
country.  She  later  called  upon  her  Alma  Mater  to  grant  her 
a  second  degree,  and  she  was  also,  for  several  years,  professor 
of  German,  leaving  the  impression  of  her  high  scholarship,  fine 
character  and  delightful  personality  upon  hundreds  of  former 
students  of  the  college.  With  Schiller,  she  found  her  greatest 
pleasure  in  constant  activity,  and  like  Lessing,  no  occupation 
to  her  was  so  important  as  that  of  searching  for  the  truth,  but 
she  had  sat  with  Goethe  and  the  Greek  philosophers  upon  the 
heights  and  had  attained  to  spiritual  serenity. 

"No  one  could  be  long  in  her  presence  without  feeling  her 
mental  superiority  and  moral  elevation,  and  this  rich  equipment 
of  mind  and  heart  found  full  expression  in  her  life.'* 

Marie  Hoadley  truly  did  noble  things,  not  dreamed  them 
all  day  long, 

"And  so  made  life,  death  and  that  vast  forever 
One  grand,  sweet  song." 

The  death  of  her  daughter  weighed  heavily  upon  the  heart 
of  the  devoted  mother,  checking  her  exuberance  and  loosening 
the  ties  which  bound  her  to  earthly  things.  Yet  her  interest 
in  the  suffrage  cause,  the  temperance  movement  and  all  the 
phases  of  "new  thought,"  particularly  those  which  related  to 
spiritual  uplifting  which  rippled  the  current  of  social  life,  had 
not  abated.  The  society  and  care  of  her  little  grandson  gave 
her  the  keenest  delight,  and  the  genial  companionship  and 
watchful  consideration  of  her  son-in-law,  with  whom  she  lived — 
to  use  her  own  language — "crowned  each  day  with  blessings." 
Yet  the  desire  to  join  her  daughter  seemed  ever  uppermost. 
Early  in  March,  1908,  she  wrote  to  an  intimate  friend:  "I  read 
without  glasses,  have  a  moderate  appetite,  sleep  pretty  well, 
but  believe  it  will  be  better  for  me  in  the  next  sphere.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  death  and  long  to  be  more  spiritual.  All  I  have 
seen  teaches  me  to  trust  the  Creator  for  all  I  have  not  seen. 
There  is  so  much  of  mystery  in  life,  so  much  that  seems  unat- 

49 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

tainable.  My  greatest  consolation  is  from  the  blessed  Bible 
which  I  study  continuously  and  which  reveals  more  and  more  to 
me  of  precious  truth.  Its  invitation,  'Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest,'  seems  to  me 
very  direct  and  I  long  to  go  to  Him.  In  a  purer  atmosphere 
than  that  of  earth,  among  exalted  spirits  who  belong  to  the 
redeemed,  in  the  society  of  the  many  beloved  ones  who  have 
passed  on  before,  I  shall  find,  I  humbly  hope,  the  rest  and 
happiness  promised  to  those  who  love  the  Lord." 

The  summons  came  on  the  afternoon  of  May  20,  1908, 
after  she  had  been  confined  to  her  bed  only  about  a  week.  Up 
to  that  time  she  seemed  in  her  usual  health  except  that  she 
tired  easily  in  exerting  herself,  finding  it  increasingly  difficult 
to  walk  without  becoming  wearied. 

The  funeral  services  at  the  house,  518  Walnut  Lane,  Swarth- 
more,  were  of  the  Friends  order,  as  Mrs.  Kemp  had  united 
with  that  body.  They  were  impressive  in  the  highest  degree. 
Said  Anna  Travilla  Speakman,  a  near  neighbor:  "Such  occasions 
as  these  usually  mean  great  sorrow,  but  seated  here  this  morning 
under  the  beautiful  silence  that  has  settled  over  us,  there  is  a 
very  precious  feeling,  one  of  thanksgiving  for  the  life  that  was 
and  the  life  that  is. 

"When  we  first  heard  that  the  dear  friend  and  neighbor  had 
been  called  to  her  eternal  home,  there  arose  in  our  breasts  such  a 
feeling  of  thankfulness  that  this  frail  body  could  no  longer  hold 
her  great,  strong  spirit,  so  young,  so  enthusiastic,  and  always  in- 
terested in  the  best  things  of  life.  We  rejoiced  that  it  was  free, 
unfettered  to  enjoy  the  different  mansions  of  our  Father's  home. 

"With  this  feeling  of  thankfulness  came  a  still  deeper  one, 
the  thought  of  her  joy  and  happiness  upon  meeting  the  dear 
daughter  with  whose  life  here  hers  was  so  closely  interwoven. 
Our  faith  is  very  sure  that  love  and  life  go  on  deepening  and 
growing  in  that  larger  life,  and  as  such  it  is  beautiful  to  think 
of  the  dear  friend  free  to  develop,  and  reunited  with  her  dear 
ones,  for  she  had  filled  her  life  of  usefulness  here,  and  with  a 
child-like  faith  was  ready  when  the  summons  came.  Many 
are  the  lessons  we  can  learn  from  her  life." 

50 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

Mrs.  S.  M.  Gaskill  also  said:  "  'Blessed  are  the  dead  which 
die  in  the  Lord;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  they  rest  from  their  labors 
and  their  works  do  follow  them.'  The  kingdom  of  Heaven  has 
been  likened  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  and  to  the  little  leaven 
which  leaveneth  the  whole  lump,  but  the  symbol  which  Jesus 
more  often  employed  and  which  I  think  He  most  preferred  was 
that  of  the  little  child.  This  spirit  of  the  little  child  our  friend 
had  attained  to  in  a  remarkable  degree,  ever  willing  to  learn, 
helpful  and  gentle  in  these  later  years  as  we  have  known  her. 

"Whatever  the  life  struggles  of  her  earlier  years  may  have 
been  we  do  not  know,  but  we  do  know  that  she  stood  for  the 
equality  of  woman  with  man  and  for  her  higher  education. 

"She  was  brave  and  true  to  her  convictions  and  quick  to 
respond  to  every  appeal,  and  illustrated  in  a  beautiful  manner 
that  saying  that  has  almost  become  an  axiom,  'There's  nothing 
so  kingly  as  kindness,  and  nothing  so  royal  as  truth.'  " 

The  Woman  Suffrage  League  of  Swarthmore  adopted  the 
following  memorial: 

In  the  decease  of  Dr.  Agnes  Kemp,  which  occurred  May  20,  1908, 
our  Suffrage  League  has  lost  a  member  who  was  faithful  in  her  attendance, 
ever  zealous  for  our  cause,  and  a  life-long  living  example  of  what  a  woman 
may  do  for  the  elevation  of  her  sex  and  the  good  of  humanity. 

She  studied  medicine  after  she  was  fifty  years  of  age,  graduating 
when  she  was  fifty-six  years  old,  thereby  manifesting  her  great  inde- 
pendence of  character  and  perseverance.  Her  zeal  for  knowledge  and 
light  continued  to  govern  her  activities  up  to  and  beyond  her  eightieth 
year.  She  was  untiring  in  her  advocacy  of  Peace  and  Temperance, 
and  hygienic  and  abstemious  living.  She  was  generous  in  her  response 
to  every  appeal. 

She  bore  her  great  affliction,  the  loss  of  her  only  daughter,  with 
serenity  and  resignation  and  looked  forward  with  an  unusual  degree  of 
interest  and  hopefulness  "to  the  life  to  come,"  believing  in  a  renewal  of 
spirit  and  a  reunion  with  the  beloved  who  had  gone  before. 

Her  sweet,  childlike  spirit,  her  perseverance  and  hopefulness  are  a 
valued  legacy  to  those  who  knew  her  best. 

Signed:   ELIZABETH  N.  GARBETT, 
JESSIE  L.HOOPES,  President; 

Secretary. 

51 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 

Among  the  numerous  testimonials  of  appreciation  and 
affection  which  came  to  Professor  Hoadley  were  the  two  follow- 
ing, from  Alfred  H.  Love,  Philadelphia,  president  of  the  Univer- 
sal Peace  Union,  and  Arabella  Carter,  business  manager  of  the 
same  society. 

Wrote  the  former: 

ESTEEMED  FRIEND:  I  was  not  aware  of  the  death  of  thy  mother- 
in-law,  our  dear  vice-president  of  the  Universal  Peace  Union,  until  too 
late  to  be  with  you  on  the  22d  inst.  Some  of  our  members  were  present. 
I  want  to  testify  to  my  admiration  of  her  work  and  her  influence.  She 
was  one  of  the  most  fearless  women  I  have  ever  known  when  it  came  to 
the  upholding  a  great  truth  and  when  advocating  that  which  would 
uplift  humanity  and  broaden  the  pathway  of  reformation.  Her  positive 
and  conscientious  convictions  were  in  the  advance  of  the  age,  "with  the 
authority  of  faith  be  thou  removed  she  to  the  mountains  sayeth." 

She  was  always  young,  even  in  the  face  of  growing  years.  My  last 
helping  hand  was  at  Mystic,  Connecticut,  when  I  put  her  in  the  cars 
for  home.  I  felt  then  it  would  be  her  last  visit  here.  She  was,  however, 
so  confident  that  I  remember  I  let  her  go  alone  and  I  was  rejoiced  to  find 
she  reached  home  safely. 

You  all  have  a  rich  legacy  in  her  wonderful  life  and  I  will  ask  the 
favor  of  some  of  you  to  give  us  a  sketch  of  her  life  for  the  Peacemaker, 
and  if  you  have  the  cut  as  prepared  of  her  some  years  ago,  say  about 
1899,  we  would  like  to  have  it,  except  you  may  have  a  later  one  that  we 
can  place  in  the  next  issue. 

Let  me  express  my  sincere  sympathy  with  you  all. 

Dr.  Kemp  was  always  a  generous  contributor  to  our  pages,  and  to  our 
treasury,  and  promised  more.  We  shall  deeply  miss  her  at  our  meet- 
ings. She  was  generally  there  with  such  friends  as  David  Ferris,  Dr. 
Magill,  Lydia  H.  Price,  Lydia  H.  Hall  and  others  who  have  passed  on 
at  about  her  age  and  all  sincerely  beloved. 

With  assured  regards. 

Thus  wrote  Arabella  Carter: 

ESTEEMED  FRIEND:  Trusting  it  may  not  seem  an  intrusion  I  want 
just  to  say  to  thee  how  very  glad  I  was  of  thy  loving  tribute  to  Dr.  Kemp 
this  morning.  I  came  so  late  I  did  not  know  who  may  have  spoken  or 
what  had  been  said,  yet  longed  that  some  such  tribute  should  be  paid  to 
her  life  as  an  inspiration,  and  was  almost  at  the  point  of  thinking  I  must 

52 


A  NOTED  MOTHER  AND  DAUGHTER 


when  thee  arose  and  spoke  as  I  so  desired,  and  coming  from  thee  was  so 
much  higher  tribute  than  from  any  of  us. 

Her  life  was  a  lesson !  Her  intensity,  her  care  to  have  the  vital  things 
of  life  really  count,  much  as  she  enjoyed  the  little  amenities  of  life,  as 
well  her  perpetual  youthfulness  which  was  a  never-ceasing  marvel  to 
some  of  us  who  perhaps  are  far  older  in  a  way  at  one-third  her  age  than 
she  was  at  eighty-five. 

Her  joyousness  in  life  and  its  experiences  is  something  which,  as 
others  said,  is  given  to  but  few. 

How  I  recall  her  at  Mystic,  Connecticut:  her  great  interest,  not  only 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  but  in  everything  else  as  well. 
Hers  was  no  one-sided  nature.  The  funeral  was  so  beautiful.  Light 
and  air  were  not  excluded.  It  seemed  to  me  as  though  her  friends  were 
gathered  there  socially  and  she  was  in  their  midst.  Nothing  of  funeral 
heaviness  was  there,  but  all  just  as  it  should  be  the  last  time  here — an 
earnest  of  the  time  over  yonder  when  we  shall  gather  face  to  face.  Even 
though  a  stranger  thee  will  not  be  averse  to  my  expression  of  admiration 
for  one  who  was  much  to  thee. 

By  Agnes  Kemp's  desire,  her  body  was  cremated,  and  her 
ashes  repose  in  the  Cemetery  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  beside  those 
of  her  first  husband,  Col.  William  Saunders. 

"Death  is  delightful.    Death  is  dawn. 
The  waking  from  a  weary  night 
Of  fevers  into  truth  and  light." 

"  The  living  are  the  only  dead, 

The  dead  live — never  more  to  die, 
And  often  when  we  mourn  them  fled, 
They  never  were  so  nigh." 


53 


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